


SG-1 Past or Future

by Akinasky



Series: Gate to Vannas [5]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Children of Characters, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Drama, M/M, Magic, Original Character(s), Stargate Command Alternate Universe, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-15 03:09:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 54,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2213550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akinasky/pseuds/Akinasky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and Daniel are finding their way in the world of SGC and their children still. They will attempt to get the children ready for school and try to maintain the burgeoning relationship with Jack's parents. But as we know Daniel and Jack cannot live a quiet existence, they are bound to have troubles. This is just the latest tale of the boys and their children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Some Semblance of Normal

**Author's Note:**

> As a reminder, the OC characters back in Vannas land as well as the children are mine and I request that you not use any of them. Just please enjoy and please review!!

It was just another day at the SGC. Daniel was thrilled to feel the normalcy of working on a translation and looked up when the phone rang, a smile twitching on his face since he knew who it was. “Jackson,” he said anyway.

“Doctor Jackson, I have an urgent message from someone very special,” Jack voice told him in what Daniel liked to call the ‘Colonel’ voice.

“Sounds serious,” Daniel replied with a smirk.

There was a fumbling sound and then he heard a much higher voice call out, “Daddy? When you coming home?” Zale, his oldest son asked.

Daniel smiled, “I’m coming home at three like I always do Z-Man.”

Zale’s voice became muffled, “Can I tell him Papa?” he whispered.

“Tell me what baby?” Daniel asked then looked up at the knock to find Janet and Sam standing there. He waved them in before refocusing on Zale. Sam and Janet sat down in the chairs before his desk.

“We did it Daddy, we’re ready for school!” Zale told him excitedly.

“Way to go sweetie!” Daniel said and wished he was home to hug his son. After months of daily work and plenty of time with the tutors to get them ready to school. It was now August and the children were all getting excited about public school even as Jack was having weekly panic attacks about it and Daniel was wondering how much they could hide from other people. But the children were excited. “I’m so proud of you Zale, can you give the phone back to Papa?”

Again with the shuffling and Jack was back, “Can you believe it Danny, like two months and they are ready to start. I don’t want to gloat…”

“Yes you do,” Daniel interrupted with a grin.

“Of course I do!” Jack crowed, “Our kids are geniuses!”

“You are awesome Papa,” Daniel said with a grin. He ignored the pantomiming smooch faces that Janet and Sam were making at him. “I love you Jack.”

“Love you too, see you in a couple hours. By the way, is Sam and Janet there?”

Daniel rolled his eyes; even after two months Jack still had a tendency to call someone so he would go to lunch. Daniel “As if you didn’t know.”

Jack chuckled, “I love you Danny.” With that they both hung up and he refocused on the translation.

“One more line and I’m ready to go.”

Janet chuckled, “Figured you would say that.”

“Where are Teal’c and the kids?” Daniel asked Sam, trying to take the focus off of him.

“Heading over to your place to have a play date with Jack and the kids. Heard they were done with school and wanted them to have some fun today as a reward.”

“You say that like our kids aren’t always together,” Daniel said with a laugh.

Sam grinned, “They still seem to enjoy each other even after all these years.”

Daniel nodded in return. Sam’s kids; Jacob, Haikon and Ishtar had been next door neighbors in the future where they were born with Daniel and Jack’s children. Now Sam and Teal’c plus their three kids lived down the block from Jack, an acquisition that General Hammond helped them when he realized they couldn’t keep staying on base or in hotels. The location of close proximity was requested on both sides and they all got lucky with the house they were in now. Teal’c and the kids could walk over there in about fifteen minutes.

“Jack will be thrilled for the company,” Daniel responded in the silence while Janet and Sam watched him closely for about five minutes before Janet spoke again.

“Sentence is done Daniel, lets go have lunch,” she cajoled gently.

“Or what?” Daniel returned in a sing-song tone.

“Or I will call Jack,” Sam grinned wolfishly.

Daniel snorted as he worked through the final phrase of the translation. Then he closed the folder and slipped it into his outbox. He stood from his chair and pointed at each woman glaring at them though the expression was bellied with the smile, “I am not getting up because you threatened me with my husband, its because I’m done with my translation.”

“Of course,” they said in unison.

All three of them walked out of the room and headed for the cafeteria for some subpar food. After they were served, they found an empty table to sit at and started talking as they dug into their food. “So it’s been about five months since you got back right?” Janet asked them.

Daniel nodded, “About that, its odd to be paying attention after years of looking at the sky and seasons to tell time.”

“You guys gonna do anything to celebrate for getting through, also with the wedding and the kids going to school? Anything?”

Daniel shrugged, he knew Jack was hoping for some kind of barbeque but he wasn’t going to spoil his husband’s surprise. “We’ll see. It’s been an interesting couple of months and this is the first time we’ve really been able to find our footing. There’s been no more attacks, Henry is serving time for the assault and attempted murder and the children are doing well with everything.”

Sam grinned and Daniel shook his head, members of SG-1 knew how much Jack loved to throw parties but it seemed like four years without him around was long enough to forget which worked out well for Daniel’s spouse.

In the ten years they were living with the Vannas, Jack made up Valentine’s Day, Independence Day as well as the kids’ birthdays, Daniel’s birthday and their anniversary. Plus Jack had private celebrations with Daniel constantly.

“How is the translating? You enjoying your return to the SGC?” Janet asked after some small talk about various teams who were out on missions. Though Sam was mostly working at the mountain, much like Daniel but she constantly was working with the teams where as Daniel just didn’t listen to the conversation until it came back around again.

“I like getting back to the roots of what I loved, languages and culture. It got lost somewhere in the trips off world and the constant chaos and danger. I didn’t know how much I didn’t like being a soldier until it was no longer required. Jack is surprisingly busy with the children’s lessons so we aren’t making each other crazy like we used to. Plus me being here on base half the day makes our evenings together wonderful.”

Sam smiled, “Yeah that wonderful evening stuff hasn’t changed in the past ten or more years.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Daniel asked, confused and laughing.

“It means that you guys love each other and you have used every opportunity since learning that to be together and that’s not a bad thing, but it also isn’t new.”

“Sam, where we are here and now is new, Jack is retired and home while I am not. We are back involved with the SGC and everyone knows that Jack and I are together. None of these things were ever possible in my head, and I don’t know how much that has to do with me and the children or just the children.”

Janet frowned, “I thought these feelings weren’t a problem for you guys anymore.”

“I wish that I could just let go of every bad feeling that tells me I’m not worth fighting for but sometimes they rise up and catch me around the throat no matter what Jack is doing. That man loves with everything inside of him and I am lucky enough to hold some of that love but it does not make all the struggles throughout my life disappear and it sure doesn’t make for an always happy marriage despite what we may appear to be on the outside.”

“You’re fighting now about things?” Sam asked.

Daniel smiled and shook his head, “No, after the leftover crap with Henry was finally dissolved and Jack settled into stay-at-home role that he chose when we were still with the Vannas people, everything just fell away besides being dads and being in love with a family.”

“So no more fallout from the assault?” Janet asked in her soft tone, it was the doctor in her asking the question but also a good friend.

Daniel shook his head, “No, Jack and I buried those demons after the court date.”

“Good,” Janet responded before they gathered their garbage and trays to dispose of them and started back to Daniel’s office. They were walking to the elevator where they would part ways when a woman with dark hair ran past them with another soldier hot on her heels. Since he was wearing the every day clothes Daniel couldn’t tell who he was or what his position was.

Daniel frowned, “What was that?”

Janet shrugged, “Well the Colonel is Cameron Mitchell, he’s been the leader of SG-1 for about six months now and the woman, that would be Vala Mal Doran, a recent acquisition from traveling through the Stargate. She was once a host to a Goa’uld so she has been an interesting acquaintance. We haven’t seen her for a while though, not since the birth of Prometheus but Hammond has allowed her kindness and in return she tries not to steal everything she sees.”

Daniel shrugged, most of the crazy stuff that happened on base anymore was none of his business so he parted ways with Janet and Sam so they could head back to work before he walked down the hall back to his office, opening the door to find drama had found him instead.

The dark haired woman in the leather outfit was sitting behind his desk, “May I help you?” he asked kindly.

She stood in what could only be described as a sexy manner, not that Daniel really cared or noticed for that matter as she walked over to him, placing an arm around his neck, “Who are you and why have we not had sex?” she asked, her accent strong and sultry. It would have added to her ultimate appeal if Daniel wasn’t busy being in love with another person, who was a man at that. She clearly had no idea who Daniel was.

“I have been back to the SGC for about five months after a long time away and I’m married. Please remove your hands from my body,” he said politely. The woman’s wandering hands had not stayed on his shoulders but slid down his back and towards his ass when Daniel jerked her away from him, watching the pout grow on her face.

Then someone was talking behind Daniel with a really strong Texas twang, “Vala remove your hands from the man like he asked. I’m so sorry Doctor Jackson; I didn’t realize she got so far from me. Lets go back to the VIP suite you were given,” The colonel from before demanded and Daniel noticed the bracelets on each of their wrists and automatically realized their intent.

“Why are you wearing those bands?” he asked Mitchell who looked incredibly uncomfortable at the question.

“Vala forced one on me and the other onto herself so we would go treasure hunting, Hammond has basically put us on house arrest together until she takes them off since we cannot be too far from each other without fainting and dying.”

The last word was shouted at Vala who winced. “Do you imagine I enjoy being stuck with you? Despite words to the contrary, you are no fun at all. I did not know it would make me sick!”

Daniel smiled, “That’s nice and all but I have work to do.”

“Of course Doctor Jackson,” with that Mitchell started to shoo Vala from the room but he paused at the doorway. “I heard a lot about you, about the kind of man you were before your disappearance and all the rumors about you since your return. I got to say, you are still not the man I would expect.”

Daniel smiled, “I’ve heard that before.”

“Tell your wife she’s lucky to have you in her bed,” Vala spoke once more causing Mitchell to laugh and Daniel to smile, thinking about Jack as his wife.

“He’s married to a retired General _Jack_ O’Neill,” Mitchell responded.

“Jack is a man then?” Vala asked, fair point since through the Stargate they heard many names and one never knew what gender to associate them with.

“Yes, Jack is a man,” Daniel said with a smirk to which Mitchell returned as Vala continued to stand confused between them.

Then she shrugged, “I stand by my word, whoever has the right and privilege to see you in bed Doctor is a blessed man.”

Daniel chuckled as Mitchell booted her from the room, giving Daniel a sloppy salute before the door closed behind the two. The SGC was never boring, that was for sure. He went back to translating but kept thinking about the wristbands and the power Vala was wielding over the second-in-command of this base and that was no good at all. He worked on many of the things he had on his to-do list but when he completed the last assignment of the day, he went in search of Mitchell who he found in Jack’s old office. He looked around the familiar room, noticing the differences as well as the similarities. Mitchell was a lot like Jack, it was clear to see even in such a short chat. The man was sitting in his chair with Vala perched on his desk and it reminded Daniel of so many days where Jack had been in Daniel’s office, perched on his desk. It seemed at least to not be keeping Mitchell from working as Jack so constantly did with Daniel.

“Doctor? What can I do for you?” Mitchell asked him, surprise brimming over in his voice.

“Actually, I was hoping to do something for you. I wanted to take a look at the wristbands you have on, I might be able to find a way to remove them for you.”

Vala glared at him, “You will not, I want to find my treasure first.” The woman crossed her arms in petulance and Daniel couldn’t help but role his eyes. Mitchell on the other hand stood up and offered his wrist immediately and Daniel got to work. He sat down on the couch with Mitchell next to him so they could be comfortable while he searched the design for meaning and words, any indication to how he might remove the device.

The phone jangled in the background and Mitchell stood answered it with a crisp spoken, “Mitchell here. Yes sir, he’s here. You want… of course. Daniel its for you,” Mitchell said and held out the receiver while the Colonel smirked at him and Vala watched in confusion and annoyance because Daniel was trying to take away her only power at the SGC. Daniel took the phone, again knowing whom it was.

“Jack, I got caught up in something.”

His husband sighed over the line, “Danny, kids are done with school prep and Sam arrived on time about ten minutes ago. We are having dinner in a few hours and the kids are missing their daddy. SGC has had you all morning and it’s our turn.”

“I am going to walk out now okay,” Daniel said feeling chagrined. Sometimes it was difficult to remember that when he was here at the SGC it was just a job and not a desperate need to escape his life as it had been for a long time. He had a life at home and it was one he wanted to be a part of but sometimes old habits didn’t die. He hung up the phone and nodded to Mitchell, “I will see you tomorrow after I try to cobble together some of the research about these bracelets. I need to go home.”

Mitchell glared, “Seriously, I have already been attached to this crazy woman for several days and you can’t take some extra time now to give me a little hope?”

“Excuse me Mitchell, you might control the military ranks of this installation but I have a strict schedule with Hammond in which I adhere to because otherwise my husband and children would never see me. I doubt you care but I have special needs children and SGC isn’t the only thing I live for anymore. I know its still the most important endeavor for humanity but it’s not _my_ important endeavor.”

Mitchell shuffled his foot, crossing his arms over his chest, “I meant no offense Doctor. I have been stuck on the mountain since she slapped this thing on me. Just going stir crazy.”

Daniel thought about that, Mitchell had been stuck on base for a while and he had a possible way to at least let the man run off some steam. He made a quick call to Hammond then Jack to get the okay before he turned back to Vala and Mitchell, “I would be pleased to have the two of you join Jack and I for dinner. Our house is basically sanctioned by the SGC since we have non-earth born children and veterans of this installation so as long as you don’t try to make a break for it you can come with me. Have some dinner with my family and Jack will bring you back afterwards.”

Mitchell pumped a fist into the air, “Yes, thank you Daniel, seriously.”

“Where would I possibly go, I want to go through the Stargate and I am going to guess you don’t have one at your place?” Vala said.

Daniel shook his head than looked at the suggestive clothes the woman was wearing and turned to Mitchell, “Can she change into something other than that? I have small children who don’t need to know what the female anatomy looks like just yet.”

Vala looked down at herself and gave a confused look but Daniel just shook his head. Mitchell pushed her out the door and towards the changing room and Daniel headed to his Jeep to wait. He stopped back at his office to pick up his keys and coat and they all met in the parking garage. The drive was filled with Vala talking about who knows what and finally they were back at his home and Daniel was pleased at Vala’s jeans and black tank top with a jacket. Mitchell was also in his civilian clothes and they followed Daniel to the front door and he opened it to shout, “I’m home!”

There was a chorus of “Daddy!” and Vala hid behind Cameron as his brood of children launched at him. Daniel, used to the treatment allowed himself to be overwhelmed, giving kisses and hugs as he congratulated them on their achievement. Thankfully all the years and time Daniel and several of the Vannas had put into the education of his kids, they were able to fly through much of what they’d missed by not being here.

“Cameron, Vala I would like you to meet my kids,” Daniel pointed out each other them as he said their names. “These are the eldest, Zada and Zale then Janet who we tend to call JC and her twin sister Claire and finally this is Johnny,” he said as he lifted his youngest from the floor with a hug and a kiss.

“You have so many of them,” Vala whispered disturbed by the sight for some reason.

“You have a problem with my kids?” Jack demanded as he walked into the entryway. Daniel smiled as he turned to accept a quick kiss from Jack. His Colonel took in the other at the door as well as Vala who was grinning at Daniel and Jack.

“I’m Jack, and you are?” he asked the visitors.

“This is Colonel Cameron Mitchell, leader of SG-1 and this is his shadow until they get those bracelets off, Vala.” Daniel answered as he continued to hug on Johnny who was quietly watching the visitors that walked into their home. He turned back to Jack, “Is he okay?” Daniel asked, gesturing towards Johnny with his head.

Jack nodded, “You know how he gets with new people. He’s been hanging out with Greer most of the afternoon, they have become inseparable.”

“Then where is he?” Daniel asked with a laugh.

“Upstairs in our room little put off about SGC people being in our house.”

“Why? Sam and Teal’c as well as Janet are always here, not to mention Hammond.”

“Yeah well to our kids, they aren’t government first but family,” Jack responded.

“You do realize we can hear you?” Mitchell told them.

Jack turned to look at the other man; “This is our home so I don’t rightly care.”

“Jack,” Daniel chided with a chuckle as he turned and walked to the front room. He headed for the stairs and his room. He opened the door to his bedroom to find Greer curled in a tight ball on their bed. Daniel put Johnny down who immediately walked over and climbed into the bed and curled around Greer’s body. Daniel smiled as he walked around to lay on Greer’s other side. He slipped a gentle finger down the side of the boy’s face. That vibrant green gaze rose to meet Daniel’s and he smiled, “Hey Greer. You going to come downstairs and play with us before dinner?”

He shook his head, saying nothing as Johnny slipped his small hand along Greer’s arm in a comforting manner that Daniel and Jack had been using on their children since the beginning as well as each other. Daniel smiled at the thought that though Johnny didn’t speak out loud he had other ways of communicating and supporting his friend.

“Why not?” Daniel whispered gently.

“At least your children were taught to live without their magic, I was born Vannas and I don’t know how to live without my magic.”

Daniel frowned, “Are you planning to do something to the guests, using your powers on them?”

Greer was shocked, “Of course not.”

“Then you shall be fine, be with us as family where you belong.”

Greer sniffled before he squeezed Johnny’s hand and reached out to hug Daniel. They all got off the bed and wandered back downstairs, Johnny and Greer holding hands and Daniel following behind them. When the boys appeared at the back door to the yard, Jack stepped over to ruffle their hair before he tugged Daniel close for a hug and a lingering kiss as if Mitchell wasn’t looking resolutely away from them and Vala was watching in interest. When he pulled away he whispered into Daniel’s ear, “You are amazing.”

Daniel shrugged, placing another kiss on Jack’s cheek before he walked down off the porch to play with the children and enjoy conversation with Cameron and yes Vala as well.


	2. Strange Relations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanging with Vala and Cam Mitchell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Canon divergence is easy to see here with Vala and Cam and assume that though you are seeing some similarities, do not assume that we will be following them since this story is about Daniel and Jack and their kids, not the Stargate anymore. Sorry but please enjoy Cam and Vala. Let me know if I should give you a little more of them.

Jack watched as once again Daniel easily proved to him that he was always the better man. Mitchell and Vala were trapped with each other and instead of allowing the two of them to gripe at each other and make everyone else uncomfortable, he forced them to get into the back yard and play with the kids. Vala was running around with the girls, showing them how to walk sexy which Jack was about to put a stop to but Daniel just shook his head. Sometimes it was hard to believe that Daniel and he had three daughters and some day they were going to be teens and adults and others are going to find each of them attractive and in relationships. Daniel somehow understood all that stuff in every decision he helped Jack with. They were equal in every aspect of their relationship but when Jack’s first choice is to freak, Daniel’s was to think about the long run. He always thought about their children before he thought of himself or Jack, it is what made him such a good Dad.

He heard the phone ring inside even while Cam, Daniel and Sam were playing soldier games with all the boys. He couldn’t stop grinning, especially when he answered the phone to hear, “Jackie!”

“Hey Pop,” Jack responded warmly. He didn’t remember much from his life with Sarah as he was constantly traveling with the Air Force but he did know that his mom had always called to chat with Sarah but his Dad rarely picked up the phone, which was no true anymore.

“How is everything in your neck of the woods?”

Jack grinned, “We’re doing good Pop, did you have a reason for calling or you just calling to talk to your fan club?”

“You know me better than that Jackie, I want to talk to my favorite son-in-law.”

Jack chuckled, “Who is the leader of your fan club.”

“You know I love you Jackie,” his father said and there was a hint of question and seriousness to the question so Jack answered it seriously.

“Pop, I have been blessed to have a loving father and mother my whole life and Danny hasn’t, I love you so much more because you care enough about him to call constantly.”

His father gave a relieved sigh and Jack reversed direction to walk to the backyard where he called out to Daniel, “Its Pop, Danny.”

Jack enjoyed watching the light turn on in Daniel’s smile, Ben O’Neill and Daniel Jackson definitely had a mutual admiration society all to themselves sometimes and it was a thrill to see. Lauren, Jack’s mother, seemed to have opened up to Daniel but still held him and the kids at a distance. Daniel waved towards everyone, excusing himself as he took the phone from Jack.

“I’m going to start dinner while we chat,” Daniel said to Jack, trading phone for kisses before he headed inside. Jack had much of dinner prepped already but Daniel liked having privacy for his phone calls with Pop, Jack was sure it came from the amount of information Daniel shared with the older man, and Ben gave him a father’s love and attention which of course was something he hadn’t had since he was nine.

He looked out to where Teal’c was lifting the kids like weights. Mitchell was siting on the porch, drinking out of a bottle of water. He turned and caught sight of Jack, moving close to share space against the ledge. “Where did Daniel go?” the Colonel questioned.

“He’s talking to my father,” Jack responded as he watched Johnny and Greer running through the swing set only to pause and talk, using their fingers and hands. The sign language was an incredibly opportunity for Johnny to speak in a way that was ‘allowed’ in this world and Greer loved having secret conversations with Jack’s little boy.

“How did your family take the news of your sexuality?” Mitchell asked and he looked at the younger man.

“Why would you possibly care?” Jack asked, not unkindly just curiously.

“I heard your name a lot and it came as a shock to learn that you and Daniel Jackson were married and that you have this family and life together. I heard your name a lot especially when I became the leader of SG-1. Everyone wanted me to be you and I wanted to be me, but I wanted to respect the name of Jack O’Neill.”

“And now you can’t because I married a man?” Jack demanded quietly.

Mitchell shook his head vigorously, “Not in the least, you are more a hero to me now then before because you gave up the Gate and everything for Daniel and your family. I always heard about Colonel Jack O’Neill who only lived for the Gate and the Air Force and I may feel the same way in a lot of ways but that shouldn’t be the thing we live for.”

Jack stared at the man in shock, it was possibly the first time he’d ever heard someone from the military ever commend him for his relationship with Daniel. He felt it only fair to share the information the man asked for, “My family didn’t take it well at first, my mother denied Daniel and the kids. My brother assaulted Daniel even.”

“What? That’s horrible!” Mitchell paused, “I think I heard about that. There was also an assault on base?”

Jack nodded but said nothing.

“General Hammond sat me down when I first got here and demanded to know what I felt about gays and their rights and so he explained that one of the consultants had been injured on base because of some small minded prejudice. I didn’t realize that was Daniel though.” Mitchel paused and looked back towards the door where Daniel had disappeared a few minutes before, “He seems okay though.”

“We have had a long road back after it but he’s doing okay. My father and Daniel love each other so they talk like twice a week but he was always supportive and my mother is doing better. I never considered myself gay and I don’t fit into people’s ideals for someone who likes to sleep with men because I don’t want to sleep with men, just Daniel. We were both married to woman before and this thing we have isn’t a lifestyle.”

“Its love and your lucky to have it,” Mitchell said and Jack smiled at the younger man.

“Right,” Jack said.

It was another fifteen minutes before Daniel rejoined them and started handing the phone to each of the kids, including Greer, to talk to their grandparents. Despite Greer’s hand in them being stuck in this time, Greer had been lovingly adopted by Jack’s parents and probably in a weird way it was easier for Lauren to love on Greer because he wasn’t ‘Jack’s children’ or ‘Daniel’s kids’ in the midst of her personal issues.

Daniel went back to the rest of the kids while the phone was still making the rounds. Jack watched his husband play with the children as he kept fighting off the weird advances from Vala. He nudged Mitchell and gestured to the dark haired woman who was trying to grab Daniel’s butt.

“Why is Vala trying to grab my husband inappropriately in front of our children?”

Mitchell chuckled, “She’s actually being really well behaved right now. She is a compulsive flirt, Daniel’s handling it well.”

“That’s because he’s been stalling my inappropriately timed advances for over a decade.”

Mitchell laughed again, “What? Aren’t you married or were you groping him long before you married?

Jack shook his head, “Daniel and I were best friends, hiding our true feelings until we were lost to our people but also he is a resolute professional, doesn’t allow groping in front of students or most people or the kids, and tends to cut down on the touching.”

“Seriously?” Mitchell asked with a laugh.

“Yup,” Jack said and kept watching as Daniel pushed Vala’s hands away again. Jack was distracted from the amusing display when Johnny ran up with the phone so Jack put it close to his ear, “You there?” he asked.

“Hey, its my other Johnny!” his mother said as Jack walked to the kitchen to check on the roast and potatoes with cooked vegetables which had a little while yet to cook.

“Hey Mama, did you talk to the kids too?” he asked.

“Only after your father gave up the phone which meant I only got to share a few greetings and asked a couple questions before they were gone again.”

Jack chuckled, “Sorry Mom, Daniel is playing with them in the backyard and you know how much they love that.”

“Daniel told your father about the kids being ready for school in a couple weeks, that’s great Johnny. You did great with them.”

“Thanks Mom, when you guys coming for your visit?”

“Hopefully soon Johnny but you know it takes money to do the traveling.”

“I told you Daniel and I would send you two tickets so you could come stay with us for a week or so.”

“I know baby, let your father and I discuss the time away.”

“What’s up Mom?” he asked her as the timer went off and he checked the food. He put on an oven mitt and pulled the large tray from the oven and put it on the stove to cool as his mother decided to answer.

“Sarah is here visiting and I’m not ready to spend time with you guys right now. She’s been having a really hard time lately.”

Jack rolled his eyes, “Are we back to picking between Daniel and Sarah again?”

He heard his father shout, “NO! We are not, we’ll see you soon Jackie!” before the phone was hung up. Jack stared at the receiver for a minute before he put it on the counter and turned back to the stove where he could prep some dinner for everyone. Luckily they made enough for both their family as well as Teal’c and Sam’s so Vala and Mitchell weren’t going to stretch the dinner especially when Daniel picked up some extra garlic bread and salad on the drive home.

“When your parents coming to visit? Pop said he was going to talk to you about a date to send them tickets,” Daniel raved as he came into the kitchen to grab plates and silverware.

“I don’t know Danny, Mom is pulling her crap again,” Jack said and watched in frustration as Daniel’s smile fell. Jack pressed a hand to Daniel’s cheek as he walked closer and Jack pulled Daniel close to hug the other man. “Dad’s gonna come whether she’s here or not, you know that Daniel.”

Daniel nodded into Jack’s shoulder, “I was just starting to enjoy the peace, and I would hate to see it end.” His voice was muffled against Jack and the heated air wafted across the curve of Jack’s throat. After a moment Daniel heaved a sigh and pulled back to kiss Jack before he started putting plates and silverware out for everyone to grab what they wanted and Jack turned to cut the meat.

He turned around to say something and found Daniel had left but the reason became clear when he came back with a gaggle of children and headed for the bathroom. Sam did the same with her three, heading for the kitchen sink while Teal’c, Mitchell and Vala walked in after the ‘moms’ took their chicks away.

Jack finished getting everything ready just before Vala started shoving piles of food on her plate, he grabbed her wrist gently and she stopped to look at him in surprise, “If you want to put your hands on me, I could find some better spots.” She said the words in a sultry voice and leered up at him. Jack had to snort in humor but also in the ultimate realization that even with easy women throwing themselves at him, Daniel was always going to be the only one Jack wanted. Vala was barking up the wrong tree.

“Do not eat all the food, we have nine kids to feed.”

Vala nodded but stuck her tongue out at Jack just as Daniel walked back into the room. She then turned sultry and stepped closer to Jack just to watch Daniel’s reaction. Jack was glad to see his husband shake his head at her antics while Daniel stepped up behind Jack and pulled him into a kiss as Vala moved away from Jack with a sigh, “Such a waste,” she said as she moved away with her plate. Daniel chuckled into Jack’s mouth and pressed a closed mouth kiss to the edge of Jack’s lips before both of them started serving various plates to their six kids while Sam got plates for her kids and Teal’c.  Mitchell came and put together a plate and Jack and Daniel were finally serving themselves before everyone spread out around the kitchen counter and the table.

Jack stood shoulder to shoulder with Daniel even as his brilliant husband started speaking in Latin, making Mitchell and Vala stare at the children in shock and awe. Jack listened as Daniel smoothly moved into another language, Arabic, Jack thought. He started slow with translating word for word and then putting together some short sentences though clearly this was not the first time they worked with this new language, the kids were picking it up quickly but at this point they were fluent in Spanish so it wasn’t that surprising.

“Do they do this often?” Mitchell asked Jack as Daniel moved close to the table to work on some pronunciations.

Teal’c, Sam and their kids plus Greer were all chatting in English and Vala was trying to hit on Teal’c and Daniel. He turned and looked at Mitchell and smiled, “Almost every night of their lives.”

“Isn’t it annoying?” Mitchell asked.

Jack shook his head, “Of course not, all of my children are incredibly intelligent and most of it has to do with my husband. I don’t need to learn the languages, don’t think I have the patience for it but they have found themselves taught by one of the most genius minds of our time.”

Mitchell nodded, “They don’t use it to talk about you or anything who doesn’t know the language?”

“No, Daniel and I are very serious about talking behind people’s back. They adhere to that pretty well.”

Mitchell nodded, “You have a pretty interesting house here General.”

“Just the way I love it,” Jack responded and moved away from the other man to close ranks around his children and husband. Daniel and he talked about taking Mitchell and Vala back before bedtime but they chose to keep them out a little bit later. Jack watched as Vala wished Sam and Teal’c goodnight, trying to kiss the former Jaffa only to fail once more before she sighed and turned from the departing family. They settled into the living room after dinner and Daniel tugged out one of the short educational shows they watched before bedtime and slipped it into the DVD player. Jack and Daniel settled into the loveseat, Jack curling his nose into the curve of Daniel’s neck and enjoying the ease in which they could now share these moments once more. It was a long time after Henry assaulted Daniel that Jack was allowed to press his nose into his husband’s neck without causing a panic attack in him.

Vala was sitting on one end of the couch and Mitchell on the other, and Jack watched as Zada stood and walked over to her. She reached out and took Vala’s hand as the woman watched their daughter. Zada smiled gently and they all watched as a shimmer lightly surrounded Vala and she gasped in awe. It seemed though that Mitchell was pretty hard to shock, working for the SGC can do that to a guy, Jack should know.

“Zada, honey?” Daniel whispered.

“Daddy, her heart was hurting. I just wanted to help,” Zada’s words were whispered.

Vala frowned at their little girl before she smiled and the expression was brilliant on the woman’s face. Jack could see now why she wouldn’t usually have such a hard time finding bed partners but that look was one of happiness and relief, not the sultry look of a woman trying to hide from herself as she appeared to be much of the afternoon and evening. With that Zada leaned forward and hugged Vala before she sat down and watched the rest of the show.

“Yeah so, ummmm….” Jack started.

Vala shook her head, “Whatever happened, do not fret. No one will ever know.”

“Same here, I saw nothing,” Mitchell said with a laugh.

“Thanks,” Daniel said while Jack was staring at the two strangers sitting in his living room, surprised that they cared enough to keep their silence. “Our children are special and the less people who know the better.”

“If you find a way to get me unshackled from Vala I will be more than happy to call it even,” Mitchell remarked with an inelegant snort.

“Hey!” Vala returned just as the show came to a close.

All the children were sent upstairs to wash up for bedtime then Daniel walked upstairs and grabbed the book to read to the kids and Jack looked to Mitchell and Vala, “Well you can sit here and watch another episode of this show or you can sit here doing nothing or watch us read bedtime stories, up to you.”

With that he clapped and rubbed his palms together and walked upstairs where Daniel was leaning against the headboard with all six kids curled up around him. Jack grinned as he pressed himself against the edge of the bed, thanking God as he did every night that they had a king size bed otherwise he’d be sitting on the floor. He heard when Vala and Mitchell sat down against the wall and listened to Daniel’s retelling of historical stories retold and watered down into kid friendly versions. Daniel didn’t really believe in telling stories that had no meaning to the world at large, plus history lessons were the only bed time stories he’d had growing up as well. If the kids wanted something fictional, Jack could read them stories but after all this time they still loved learning as well as being entertained. They were definitely Daniel’s children, that’s for sure.

Soon goodnight hugs and kisses were passed to each kid before they were sent to bed with strict instruction of lights out in ten. Mitchell and Vala said goodnight to Daniel and thanked him for a lovely evening and Mitchel practically begged for a repeat offer especially if the wristbands remained on. Jack sent the visitors downstairs before he pressed Daniel up against the nearest wall and pressed his lips to Daniel’s waiting mouth. Daniel huffed a laugh when Jack pulled back just enough to breathe hot breath down onto Daniel’s throat, “I love you so much Daniel Jackson.”

“Oh yeah, why now?” Daniel husked back.

“Rebuffing Vala, letting the girls talk to her to get some sort of female influence despite the source. You are always the best man I know.”

“Right backatcha Colonel Jack,” Daniel said before he kissed Jack and pushed him towards the door. “Deliver Vala and Mitchell back to the SGC and come home to us.”

Jack gave a snappy salute and walked downstairs and grabbed the keys to his truck where the three of them crammed into the front seat with Vala in the middle and Mitchell pressed against the door.

“Why couldn’t we take the jeep again?” Mitchell asked.

“Because that is Daniel’s car and I’m not making him take you back, if he goes on base I will never get to sleep with my husband.”

Vala laughed at that, “He does like to work, doesn’t he?”

“Very much,” Jack responded and grabbed Vala’s hand as it snuck back onto his leg. “Are you going to try and grope everyone you come into contact with? I can see how that might cause problems.”

Vala sighed, “This whole being in love with someone who isn’t me is just depressing.”

Mitchell laughed but said nothing. Jack was happy to sign them back into the base and waved to the Colonel, “Thank you for the night out and letting us play with your family.”

Jack nodded and turned to go back home to his family, glad that he didn’t even want to walk into the SGC. He was happy to be a retired husband of Daniel and father to his genius children though he couldn’t believe he was capable of feeling that way but he was grateful for the new life he’d been given and happy with the contentment it brought.


	3. Night Terrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny's powers rear their ugly head.

Daniel couldn’t stop grinning as his watched Jack leave with Vala and Cam. He got ready for bed, slipping his glasses off and placing them on his bedside table before pressing himself under the blanket and sighing happily. It had been a long day of work and after spending the afternoon and evening with friends and fighting off the unwanted advances of Vala, he was glad to be alone. He knew Jack would be about another half an hour so he settled in to get some sleep.

Until he heard Johnny scream.

After five years since learning that Johnny couldn’t speak and only hearing grunts and sounds of overwhelming fear it was still difficult to deal with that sound. Daniel hated that it was still one of the few noises he could make. He jumped out of his bed and stumbled out into the hall and dove into the other bedroom upstairs where Zale and Greer were both holding Johnny’s hands, talking to him gently though Daniel was sure the little boy heard none of it over his screaming. Daniel ran to the bed and pressed a palm against Johnny’s face, bringing those sad and scared brown eyes to focus on him as the scream quieted into scared little whimpers. This has been their system since the beginning, Jack and Daniel did not play favorites with the kids and so the kids did not have favorite parents but for some reason Daniel could always calm Johnny in these moments. Jack could do it as well but as soon as Daniel was remotely near Johnny he would immediately reach for his younger Daddy.

“Come on baby, let it go and come back to me.” He whispered the words, continued to stroke his son’s face as Zale rubbed his back on one side and Greer pressed his forehead to Johnny’s temple opposite Daniel’s hand. Daniel turned to look at Zale, “Can you go and let the girls know he’s okay otherwise no one is getting any sleep tonight.”

Zale nodded and ran from the room in his superhero pajamas.

Daniel returned his gaze to Johnny’s eyes, which shimmered with unshed tears, “Talk to me baby, show me what’s going on inside your head.”

Johnny reached out with his free hand and gripped Daniel’s hand. Johnny sent out a lash of fear, which didn’t surprise Daniel, but the pictures in his head did. Johnny had only started to figure out how to share images with others, Zale had been the only one for a long time. He saw through his son’s ability a long empty hallway and a door open to show someone on a table, with straps around their hands and feet. The body on the table struggled and released silent screams. Daniel gasped as he watched another person enter the room, grabbing tools and devices, digging them into the captured person in tests that appeared more like torture than science. He watched the unknown person shift and twitch in unwelcome pain and wanted to curse at the inability to see the person on the table.

Daniel heaved a deep breath and paid attention to what Johnny was trying to tell him. The frustrating part was that there were no faces but Johnny never saw things that didn’t have something to do with his family. Akina had always assumed his power of premonition would branch out from family after he grew into his ability for a while. Daniel understood Johnny’s need to scream as the vision went dark and he shook off the pain that always seemed to transfer with the visions if Johnny was able to share them at all. Then he tugged Johnny into his lap, dislodging Greer who climbed up close to continue rubbing a gentle hand across Johnny’s back while the little boy cried, pressing his face into Daniel’s neck.

“Is he going to feel better?” Greer whispered.

“Of course Greer, he saw something scary. We’ll try to make sure it doesn’t come true,” Daniel responded quietly as he pressed his hand gently into Greer’s neck in comfort before he shifted his focus back to Johnny and whispered. “You want to come sleep with me for a while?”

Johnny nodded and Daniel sent Greer back to bed with a hug and a kiss on the head before he lifted Johnny and they walked back to his bedroom, passing Zale on the way. Daniel fumbled to put Johnny on one hip so he could rub his fingers through Zale’s hair before he found himself back in bed, wrapping arms around Johnny’s small form. He was so little and frail, sometimes Daniel didn’t know how his youngest got out of bed and survived the day with strangers assuming he was dumb and having terrifying visions he couldn’t control, then there was his new and trying ability to communicate with them through telepathy even though it cost him so much to do so.

He heard the front door open and close and sighed, rubbing gentle fingers through Johnny’s hair. He listened as Johnny’s breathing evened out and a minute later Jack walked into the bedroom and Daniel motioned to Johnny. Jack sighed before he pulled off his shoes and socks and without changing or doing anything else to get ready for bed, Jack climbed into bed and wrapped his arm around Johnny and Daniel. He watched as the tough-as-nails Colonel walked out and Papa Jack moved in and kissed Johnny gently on the head. He locked eyes on Daniel and the younger man gave a tremulous smile.

Jack slipped his fingers through Daniel’s hair to grip the back of his neck for a moment and Daniel nodded at the look of love in Jack’s eyes and they closed ranks around their little boy and slipped into sleep, one pass of comforting fingers and palm at a time.

Before Daniel knew anything had passed, he found himself being awakened with lips and hands slipping across his face and neck. He came awake, thinking about Johnny only to hear Jack whisper the words into the skin of his cheek, “Johnny is with his siblings.”

“How is he?” Daniel husked, even as Jack continued caressing Daniel’s throat just above his collarbone with his tongue and mouth and Jack’s hands wandered at the edge of his shirt.

“He bounced back like he always does. Can you tell me what happened?” Jack whispered and settled next to Daniel, tugging him to lay down on Jack’s chest.

Daniel heaved a sigh, “He saw someone being tortured, it woke him from sleep and it took Zale, Greer and I to calm him down. He doesn’t have them very often anymore but it seems that the content is getting worse; he’s six years old Jack and he already saw someone sexually assaulting me only to be the one to find it came true. Now he sees faceless people suffering at the hands of some enemy, and he knows as well as we do that most of his visions have to do with family.”

Jack pressed a kiss to Daniel’s temple and Daniel swiped his fingers under his eyes when the tears started to trickle from the corner of his eyes. “I wish we were still with Akina and the Vannas, they knew how to help him better than we can.”

Jack pulled away and they both sat up in bed. He pressed a hand against Daniel’s cheek and he looked into those dark brown eyes, which he saw in their son. “Danny, you did what you have always done. Johnny knows he’s safe when he’s in your arms and he was able to find a way to free himself after your attack, same way you did because you both have this spirit that makes you unstoppable. He might be my biological son but he’s so much like you Danny. I know we’re going to take care of him as always. Do you doubt it?”

Daniel smiled, sniffling as he shook his head.

“That’s right!” Jack said with a hand pump in the air.

Daniel laughed and with a deep breath he tugged Jack close for a hug before he stood from the bed and headed for the shower. He listened as Jack opened drawers as he splashed water on his face and slipped his glasses back on before looking back at Jack in his wrinkled jeans and shirt, which he slept in. It was pretty amazing that at almost sixty Jack was still slim and fit thanks to the home gym Jack had in the garage. Daniel was thankful that not only Jack stayed physically fit but also he did not completely revert to a pie and froot loops diet of old. Jack noticed Daniel watching him and walked into the bathroom and proceeded to press against Daniel’s back.

“You like what you see Doctor Jackson-O’Neill?” he whispered into Daniel’s skin just behind his ear, shifting his hair gently and making Daniel squirm happily under his attention.

Daniel chuckled at the hyphenated name, they never used them except with each other every once in a while and their children carried it as well, “I always like what I see when I look at you.” Jack pressed his lips to Daniel’s in an innocent closed-mouth caress before he kissed Daniel on the forehead.

“I’m going to make sure the kids aren’t eating cereal for breakfast cus its mine,” Jack said with a wink and another kiss before he returned to the bedroom to change. Daniel pulled open the shower curtain and turned on the spigot for a quick shower. A long day and scary night made the hot water splashing down on his skin even more amazing and though Daniel really wanted to savor it, he wanted to be with the kids and Jack more. So after he dried himself briskly, he dressed for work and walked downstairs to find everyone eating breakfast. He took the plate that Jack offered him and started eating at the table. Jack took plates and cups as the children finished and started cleaning and Daniel chose to watch Jack again.

It was interesting to think of his life in two distinct categories, Before Jack and After Jack. When they first met on that first trip to Abydos they were both so desperate for a challenge and a way to not think about the world they were set to live in. Jack had been desperately trying to get himself killed after the death of Charlie and Daniel just knew the only way he could be happy was to live for his work and not form any bonds but it seemed like Jack had never allowed Daniel the satisfaction of hiding.

Then when they found themselves among the Vannas people and given a chance to be together they helped each other to find a life built on love and then later the love they shared with their children. Now being back in the world of the SGC and judgmental people it was interesting to think that in the grand scheme of things, Daniel’s list of important things in life no longer began with work but his family. In the old world, Before Jack, Daniel would have never been in a position where his partner needed to tell him it was time to stop staring and head to the base for his work day.

Daniel couldn’t help smiling in response to the reminder, pleased with the idea that he could get lost in such a pastime as watching Jack clean the dishes and talk to their children because if he’d had children with Sha’re before when he was obsessed with making discoveries and proving theories then he would have missed out on so much and now that wasn’t the case.

And Daniel was grateful for such a thing.


	4. Trouble at Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attack sends the family into making some poor choices at the SGC where there are spies and cameras.

  
          Jack sent Daniel off to work with a kiss but also in his truck as Jack needed to drive the kids to the base and get them last minute vaccinations before they signed up at a nearby elementary and the Jeep had more comfortable seating for the booster seats necessary for such an adventure. The truck Jack found did seat all the kids if necessary but not comfortably. Besides the vaccinations Jack planned to surprise Daniel at lunchtime, since his lovely spouse didn’t really understand that they were going to be at the base. It would be the first time Jack had been on base since he retired. He got through all the markers and walked to Janet’s domain where she and her team of nurses went immediately gaga for the kids much like they did for Daniel any time he was in here and these were completely different nurses than four years ago when Daniel made visiting the medical unit a weekly tradition.

All the kids were tumbled into their own bed with their own gaggle of nurses to help them and Jack waved to them in parting. Johnny was in Janet’s good hands. Since the beginning, Janet had been the only one to really be trusted with Johnny’s care, the other children understood that they would do what they needed to for themselves and each other but Johnny was always special. Jack was glad that they had Janet otherwise they might not have someone else with a calming influence on their youngest son. Thankfully Johnny was speaking with his hands slowly, to Janet with Greer to help with interpreting and he seemed calm despite the vision from the night before but then he’d always had Daniel’s amazing ability to bounce back especially when he was with his siblings and Greer.

So Jack turned and walked back out, it was about the time he was usually calling one of the archeology/linguists or Sam or Teal’c or Hammond to take Daniel to lunch and he was thrilled to have the right to it today. He lifted his cell phone from his pocket, a recent addition to all their lives, including one in each of Zale and Zada’s hands as well. He dialed Daniel’s office and he answered with his little grin, Jack could hear it in Daniel’s voice, “Jackson.”

Jack knew he was getting close enough to fool around with Daniel, “Hey is your lunch date there yet?”

Daniel paused, Jack imagined that Daniel was looking up and around his office in response to the question, “Actually, no.” Jack could just imagine the little frown in the center of Daniel’s forehead, slightly obscured by his glasses.

“Well that’s because I have someone special assigned the task of feeding you today,” Jack grinned.

Daniel sighed, “Jack we’ve had this conversation so many times. I am not a child and I don’t need you to keep me fed.”

“Yeah your very recent history would argue with that sentiment but if you don’t want to have lunch,” he walked into Daniel’s office before he continued speaking, “With me, I’ll just go and hang out with the kids.”

Daniel laughed; dropping the phone as Jack hung up the cell and shoved it into his pocket and waited while his partner walked around his desk and hugged Jack. “I didn’t know that I wanted desperately to see you until right this second. How is Johnny doing?” Daniel asked after he kissed Jack quickly and then proceeded to drag Jack out of his office.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve never just walked out of your office for Carter or anyone else,” Jack responded, walking next to Daniel towards the cafeteria.

“Well of course Jack, you’re my husband. Johnny?” he asked again.

“He is in the loving hands of Janet and her fawning nurses, they are all fine. Can we eat please?”

Daniel nodded, “I want to eat quickly so I can go hug my kids before I have to go back to working. Vala and the bracelets are pushing my translations back since they somehow got the darn things off but it didn’t help, they still can’t be too far from each other without getting weak and fainting after about an hour.”

Jack could hear Daniel’s frustration, he looked around and noticed the nearby door so he tugged Daniel inside what appeared to be a closet and there were tons of those around the mountain. Jack pressed Daniel up against the wall and took his husband’s lips in a deep searching kiss. Daniel moaned into Jack’s lips and he felt as Daniel’s hand climbed Jack’s chest to grip the back of Jack’s neck. Daniel allowed the contact to continue for several minutes before he pulled back and looked into Jack’s eyes. “Thanks for that, best stress reliever ever. Can we eat now?”

Jack chuckled at the one-track mind that only he could truly appreciate from his pie eating on base days, “I can’t tell you how often I thought about doing this.”

“Making out on base, I’m sure that you’ve done it before,” Daniel said with a raised brow.

Jack leaned in close, “Not with the one I loved and not as often as you might think. I wanted to tug you into nearby store room sometimes, desperately wanted to press you against the nearest wall and run my fingers through your hair to leave it mussed so others would know you are well loved.”

Daniel flushed at Jack’s words, leaning the rest of the way to Jack’s lips once more. With that Daniel turned and tugged Jack back out to continue to the cafeteria where they picked up some food and found a table to sit down and eat together. They enjoyed their time together until the klaxons went off; lights in the corner flashing and Jack quickly tossed out their garbage and without a word headed for the infirmary. The kids even after almost six months hated those kinds of loud noises and Johnny didn’t know how to handle it sometimes.

Then as they were walking, the blast doors started sliding down, Daniel looked at Jack quickly before they started running but couldn’t make it, getting stuck in one of the corridors as the lights went out, leaving them in darkness for a frightening moment before the one emergency light came right above their heads.

“Jack! We need to get to the children!”

Jack nodded though a useless gesture since it was still dark despite light and Daniel’s eyes were looking around to find a way out, “I know Daniel.” He took his scientist’s hand and pulled him close for a moment, wishing he knew what to do anymore. It had been too long since he’d been in this kind of situation and only once had it ever included any of his kids.

“Okay the only reason they would lockdown the mountain is if this was a Foothold situation,” Jack said and realized a little too late that it wasn’t going to help Daniel not freak out which he did. He pulled away from Jack and slammed his fists against the blast door, shouting at the top of his lungs until Jack grabbed his hand and pulled him from the wall.

“Jack, Zale and Zada are going to do something. You know when they don’t have a way out sometimes they use their powers to make a way and Johnny is going to freak about this. The girls are tough but if any of them start using powers, we’re all done for here!”

Jack pressed his hands into Daniel’s cheeks, “Calm down Danny, they can handle this and so can you.”

Daniel nodded resolutely and took a deep breath and Jack pulled the cell phone back out of his pocket. He dialed Zale’s cell phone and his son answered on the second ring, “Papa, what is happening?” Jack was pleased when he didn’t hear any fear in Zale’s voice though he couldn’t be sure about the confidence he did hear bleeding out. Zale knew he could keep his siblings safe but growing up with magic meant he was incapable of truly determining what he should and should not do in the best of times.

“I don’t know Z-Man, I need you and your sister to promise me to stay close to your siblings and don’t use your powers.”

Zale sighed, “I know Papa, is Daddy okay? Johnny is worried about him.”

“Why?” Jack asked, looking at Daniel who was frowning at him like he was about to steal the phone from Jack’s hand.

“I think he saw something about red lights and Daddy,” Zale responded and Jack was almost positive he could hear a shrug in the words.

“Well Daddy is with me and I will keep him safe okay?” Jack promised both Daniel and Zale then Daniel did steal the phone and he spoke quickly into the mouthpiece.

“Zale, you guys okay? Good, Papa and I are going to get to you I promise.”

With that, Jack took the phone back and dialed the General’s office. He answered, “Hammond.”

“George, what’s going on?” Jack asked.

“Jack, are you on base?”

“Yes, Daniel and I are stuck between blast doors. The kids are with Janet in the infirmary. We need to get to them, what’s the sit-rep?”

“As far as I can tell, something happened with the electrical and it tripped the lockdown procedure. Carter is working on it but as far as we can tell the most troublesome alien we have on the base is Vala.”

Jack smiled and hung up without another word, “Carter is on it. We just have to wait it out.”

“I don’t like them being alone in this Jack.”

He placed a comforting hand on Daniel’s shoulder, “I know Daniel.”

“Zale tends to react without thinking especially if Johnny is agitated at all. He’s gonna get caught using magic and we’re going to have to run!”

“Oh My gawd, Daniel you are such a drama queen.”

Daniel glared at him in the darkness, pointing an offended finger at Jack. He held his hands up in defense. “They are my babies Jack, I need them to be safe with us.”

Jack nodded and squeezed Daniel’s shoulder to maintain contact and calm is distraught husband. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand the risks they were dealing with right now but they were not going to always be with the children and they would need to learn how to conduct themselves and Daniel’s mother hen act was just as bad as Jack’s some days.

So they were left to wait it out much to Daniel’s displeasure.

 

Zale watched as Johnny paced around the room they were all sitting in, Janet was trying to catch him and make him sit down but it just made him grunt and cry out. Zale wanted to tell their aunt to let him pace because when Johnny was worried and coming down from a premonition panic, he didn’t want to be touched by anyone but Daddy Daniel but he also refused to talk about Johnny like he wasn’t there. Aunt Janet seemed to get the message anyway.

So he watched Johnny while Zada hugged JC and Claire close, they didn’t like the funny lights and the shadows they were causing. Greer was standing close to where Johnny was pacing and Zale was surprised when the other boy reached out and took Johnny’s hand and pulled him gently to a stop. Zale frowned when Johnny allowed it; Greer pulled Zale’s little brother into a hug.

 _“Something is going to happen to Daddy, not aliens just an accident and we can stop it!”_ Johnny said to Zale even as he kept hugging Greer.

“Johnny, did you see something?” Zale asked in a low whisper as he walked close to the two other boys.

_“I feel it Zale! We just got Daddy back, we need to do something, please!”_

“Papa and Daddy are together and they are safe, give it a little time JJ!” he whispered urgently. Papa had a point in specifically reminding Zale and Zada not to use their powers, Zale and Johnny were the ones who made a big scene at the wedding, Zale was the one who used his telekinesis and then used his teleporting abilities to get to Daddy in the hospital. Papa knew exactly who was incapable of following his parents’ magical rules when he knew there was something he could do to save or protect his loved ones. Zale didn’t like knowing he’d done nothing when Johnny was giving him the knowledge he needed to keep Daddy Daniel safe.

Johnny shook his head, his hands pulling at his hair as he sat down on the floor and started rocking. Aunt Janet walked over and pressed a gentle hand to Johnny’s back but the small boy struggled away from her comforting touch.

Zale took pity on her shocked and hurt expression, “He only wants Daddy when he’s like this,” he told her.

“Daddy is?” Janet asked.

“Daniel,” Zale responded, feeling strange about calling Daddy by his name.

“Right, gotta keep that straight,” Janet said and stepped away from Johnny before she made him worse. Greer sat down next to Johnny and took his brother’s hand, hoping the contact would calm him instead of what it normally would do. He looked over gratefully at Greer who sat down next to Johnny on the other side and grasped his other hand gently. For now Zale would do what he had to not to break Papa and Daddy’s rules even if it fought against the need to protect those he loves.

 

 

The man watched from his position in the infirmary, sure that this lockdown and the little accident he had planned would do what it had to to push the children. He knew they were more than just the children of Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson, for more than one reason such as the time variance between the time the team was gone and the age of their children. Plus the weird happenings around Daniel after he was assaulted and then had a speedy barely concealed recovery. Now if he wanted to see his action put into play he needed proof before his people could catch them and start studying what they could do. He picked up his cell phone and put into effect the second part of his plan especially since the children had gotten a reminder from their father to stay on their best behavior.

The next step would force the issue; otherwise their precious Daddy could die!


	5. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel and Jack are still separated from the kids in the SGC, in the dark.... Nothing can go right in this scenario.

Daniel was leaning against the blast door; slowly punching the metal surface while Jack tapped his foot impatiently and then with a shift it started to rise. Daniel struggled to his feet and helped Jack before the two of them rushed through the halls, not even questioning why the lights were still off as they ran into the stairwell since the elevator would undoubtedly still be down. They started down the stairs and Jack slipped ahead of Daniel when something cracked over Daniel’s head and then he was falling, his vision wavering even while Jack shouted his name.

Johnny having seen his father fall, a heavy piece of metal pressed down on his stomach and blood pooling behind his head, screamed out and showed Zale what he saw. There was nothing they could do here, the doors were still locked and Zale looked to his sisters, “I’m sorry.”

Zada nodded, “Go!”

Zale turned to Greer, “Can you pause time long enough for our absence not to be noticed?”

“I have no idea, Zale. I have not used my powers since we came here.”

Zale took Greer’s shoulder gently, “Focus on the power, and what you want. Close your eyes and see your power, I have to get to Daddy!”

Greer took a deep breath, closed his eyes and Zale noticed one of the men watching them. Once the lights went out most of them left the kids to their own devices but this man wouldn’t take his eyes off of them. Zale refocused on Greer who took Johnny’s hand and Zale wondered if his little brother was speaking to their friend since Greer was nodding as if in answer then the room slowed outside a shimmering bubble that appeared around them. Zale gripped Johnny’s hand for a second, “I’m going to him now Johnny, and he’s going to be okay!”

Johnny nodded then Greer’s power snapped into place and Zale opened the path to his power and teleported to the stairwell where Papa was trying to lift the heavy piece of metal that was trapping a very still Daddy on the stairs.

“Papa, step back,” Zale said.

Papa turned, “Zale what are you doing here?”

“I came to help Daddy,” Zale said and reached his hand out and used the strength of his mind to pull the debris off of Daniel. It was heavier than anything Zale had ever tried to lift magically and it took precious moments that Daddy was bleeding. He felt the warm trickle of blood slipping out of his nose and down across his lips and chin. He forced power from the recesses of his body and mind. With a burst, the debris lifted off of Daddy and Zale moved it a safe distance away before he climbed the steps next to Daddy. He pressed his hands into Daniel’s skin and searched his body and mind for the worst injuries, even as Papa moved close.

“Zale, you know how Daddy feels about this, you shouldn’t be healing anyone and you need to get back to where you came from!”

Zale looked to his father, “He’s losing too much blood Papa, he could die before the infirmary doors are open again.”

Papa looked torn as he looked between Zale and Daddy and then nodded, “Do as little as possible Z-Man then get out of here.”

Zale nodded and pressed his mind into his Daddy’s body, searching out the worst of the wounds, the head wound was bleeding a lot, internally as well as all around on the steps so he did a quick patch job that was all he was capable of since his powers were not healing focused then he patched the ribs that the piece of metal shattered and he felt as Daddy took a deep even breath and knew it would be enough.

“Get help to him as soon as you can Papa!” Zale said and hugged his father before he snapped back to the door outside the infirmary to see everything still moving in slow motion and it still looked like he was still in the room so he moved himself into the bubble where Greer was shaking and Johnny was holding him tightly.

“I’m back Greer, let it go!” Zale whispered as he took Johnny and Greer into his arms and he felt the magic fall away. All three of them took a deep breath and he found himself pressing the heel of his hand against the blood streaming down his nose. Greer had blood coming from his nose and his ears with Johnny rubbing his back gently. Janet came towards them, blocking them from view of the other nurses.

“What did you do Zale?” Janet whispered as she ushered the three of them into a private room and started cleaning them up and checking them over.

Zale said nothing, he may not be able to ignore his Daddy’s pain but he did know silence was better than speaking to the wrong person about what they were capable of. He couldn’t even tell their aunt where Daddy Daniel was because he shouldn’t know. It was frustrating, this magic-less world. So he allowed Janet to fuss and clean them up, putting them through some extra tests for the bleeding but it wouldn’t be something she was ever going to understand. The powers they had were muscles and he stretched his too far, pushing them to save Daddy while Greer overstepped to protect them from being found out.

“I would never do anything to hurt any of you kids, you know that right?” Janet asked him, gripping his chin gently so he would look her in the eyes.

Zale nodded.

“My daughter isn’t from this planet and I have done all I could to protect her and I would do the same for all of you and your fathers.”

He couldn’t say anything, already broke enough rules so when his phone rang again, he reached into his pocket and handed it to Janet. She frowned at him and answered, “Frasier.”

Zale knew it was Papa when Janet rushed from the room and the lights flicked back on. Zale wondered about the timing of everything that had happened and when he walked out of the private room, he looked around for the man who had been watching him only to find him gone and Papa was pulling a limping Daddy into the doors and Janet helped Papa to get him onto a bed to check out the injuries as she demanded what happened and Jack told her. Zale reached out to take Greer’s hand and Johnny’s to bring them out of the private room to rejoin the girls. Zada was giving Zale a look, one that said they were going to talk about what happened when they were home.

He figured that was very true. At this point Zale just wanted to get them all off this base because he had a feeling they were all being tricked, trapped by more than that debris that trapped Daddy to the stairs and hurt him. Zale could not say he really understood the reasons Daddy and Papa couldn’t let them be magical here but he trusted them both with all of their lives.


	6. Seriously, Again....

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel's hurt again, more powers again.... Such as life with magical children.

Daniel struggled to sit up on the infirmary bed; he was not staying on base. He told Janet and Hammond so and Jack actually didn’t argue. Actually Zale was nodding behind Jack when Daniel put up a fuss and that confused and worried him.

“Daniel, you were crushed and I’m worried that there was internal injuries and we need to wait until the x-rays come back.”

“When you getting them back?” Daniel asked.

Janet held up a hand to stall Daniel from getting off the bed, “Soon Daniel but we also need to discuss something.” With that Janet turned and nodded to the door and everyone walked out, Sam was there to take the children away until Daniel and Jack were done.

“What’s up?” Jack asked as he sat down next to Daniel who shifted painfully to make room.

“I know there’s something different about your kids. Zale and Johnny especially are capable of things that the rest of us will never really understand. I know something happened today when Daniel got hurt and they knew something was wrong when Henry assaulted Daniel. Zale threw open the doors without touching them and then when Daniel was in the hospital, after Zale was found in the hospital without having been dropped off and Daniel was better inexplicably.”

Jack shrugged and Daniel didn’t say anything, protecting their kids was more important than even their friendship with Janet.

She waited, eyeing them hoping to break them but Daniel just looked past her shoulder and not into those blazing eyes. After a few minutes Janet sighed, “I’m not trying to hurt you or them, I am trying to get the information to protect them if they are under my charge. If I had known they were going to attempt something I would have gotten them into a privacy room where they weren’t at risk to get caught.”

Daniel sighed but waited for Jack to say something. They would need to discuss who should be told the truth, if Janet is told then Hammond needed to know what was being hidden as well.

“Not here,” Jack finally whispered.

Janet nodded, pleased with their answer. “Can I bring Cassie over? She’s been asking about JC and the rest of the children. She hasn’t seen them in a while.”

Jack nodded, “After your shift today, you can bring Daniel home with you and we can talk.”

Daniel stared at his husband, “Excuse me! You are not leaving me here while you take the children home and talk to the boys without me. Dammit Jack, when these things happen we have to be a unified team with them otherwise they use us against each other as you know. I love our babies but they are clever little devils.”

Jack snorted, “Wonder where they learned that.”

“Not me,” Daniel responded haughtily.

Jack shrugged, “Well that’s true actually.” Daniel watched as Janet nodded in answer. Jack sighed, “It doesn’t change my mind Danny, you need to stay here with Janet so she can keep an eye on you. If she’s okay with you leaving when she does then I will see you at home, if not you are going to stay where you can get better. I love you Danny and I am so sick of seeing you bloody and I know the boys are sick of it too.”

Daniel thought about Johnny and Zale being the ones to find him after Henry assaulted him and that Zale must have come to them in the stairwell and Daniel was stuck under that sheet of steel. He knew from Jack that there was a lot of blood loss and Zale had seen it. Zada knew a little of what was happening as she always did when her brother was concerned but Johnny had seen it happening once again before it had occurred and stuck on base, had no opportunity to see Daniel from harm or even know for sure Daniel and Jack were alive and returning to them.

So he nodded, “I’m coming home tonight Jack and we are going to talk to them together.”

“Yes dear,” Jack responded with a roll of his eyes. Daniel would have shoved his husband in response if it weren’t for the fact that his ribs still hurt, Zale did the best he could but he didn’t have the ability to heal like some other Vannas did.

Instead Daniel slumped back down on the bed and waited for Janet to allow the children back into the room. Daniel nodded to Janet and she left the room, closing the door behind her. He looked at his beautiful children, Zale’s lip wobbling and Johnny shaking at the sight of Daniel laying in bed wounded once more. Zada was wiping away quiet tears and the twins were shuffling their feet and holding each other’s hands tightly. He nodded to them and they rushed towards the bed. Daniel leaned over and tugged Zale close as his beautiful son sobbed into his side.

“I know Z-Man, I’m going to be okay though.”

“Daddy, I hate to see you hurt!”

“I second that,” Jack said as he rubbed a gentle hand through Zale’s raven locks.

Daniel smiled at Jack for a second before he tugged Zale away from his chest, “I’m going to be all right, you know that?”

Zale nodded and scooted down the side of the bed, taking a deep breath to calm himself and Daniel stroked his cheek once more before Jack tugged him onto the bed near Daniel’s feet. Zale placed his hand on Daniel’s ankle but he wasn’t trying to do anything to Daniel, magically. Instead Zale was just maintaining physical contact for once. Daniel hugged Zada next, kissing her forehead, “Thank you for being such a good girl and staying with your siblings when Zale is playing superhero.”

Zada sniffled and wiped her nose as elegantly as she could, despite her age. Daniel smiled and kissed her cheeks, then her nose before he reached past her and tucked JC and Claire into his arms, feeling the warmth of them and he could feel the fear chase away from them the longer he held them. Both girls were tense when he touched them but a few minutes and they were lax against his side. Finally he turned with a little smile to Johnny’s deep brown eyes, so much like his father that Daniel could never turn them away. This was his beloved little Johnny, someone who had taken every adversity in life and laughed in its face. Daniel gently tugged Johnny to lay in the small space on the edge of the bed while Jack pulled at the girls who carefully draped themselves over Daniel’s legs and Zada climbed up behind Jack on the other side. Somehow, despite the physical dimensions of the bed all of them were on the bed. Daniel looked out and found Greer standing quietly near the door so he coughed to gain the little boy’s attention, “Come here Greer, you are always going to be family to us.”

The little boy smiled and came over to climb in next to Daniel as well. Then Daniel turned back and pressed gentle kisses to Johnny’s forehead only to be interrupted by the sounds of a snapshot camera going off and they all turned to find Janet shaking out the film so it would develop before she handed the picture to Jack and waved on her way out, “I just figured you should have a picture because you all are so cute.”

Jack scoffed at that and Daniel laughed before he tucked his lips against Johnny’s soft hair once more.

_“Daddy, I could not allow you to die. Not when Zale and me could do something.”_

Daniel turned and noticed Jack’s response; Johnny was talking to both of them, which made translating silent conversations a lot less difficult and awkward. When Johnny first started talking to them a few months ago he’d not been strong enough to speak to them in full sentences and never to the both of them. Now it was getting easier and though Johnny may never speak out loud, Janet had shown them that the parts of his throat that should have made speaking possible were not developing and the surgeries to alter the problems were more than the little boy wanted or needed. He was happy with sign language and telepathy.

“Your Papa and I will speak to you and Zale about it this evening after dinner. I know what you felt you needed to do but there are reasons why you are not supposed to,” Daniel said the words against Johnny’s hair, slightly muffled but still understandable.

“Later Danny,” Jack whispered and Daniel nodded. These conversations didn’t belong on base.

He turned to look at Jack, “Take them home Jack. They shouldn’t be here anymore than they need to be.”

Jack nodded and stood, dislodging Zada for a moment who grumbled before resettling. Then when he twisted and stretched Daniel could feel the golden warmth that he always got when one of the kids were transferring emotions or healing them. He looked down at Zale, “Stop it Zale, I’m fine.” Daniel warned, using his ‘Daddy voice’.

“I’m not doing anything Daddy,” Zale responded and then to prove himself, he stood from the bed and held his hands up in surrender.

Daniel frowned and looked down to where Claire was holding JC’s hand and her other one was wrapped tightly over Daniel’s wrist. Neither one of his girls had shown any affinity for magic, Jack and Daniel had hoped they wouldn’t but Daniel didn’t find it surprising, all their other children had some sort of power.

“Claire, are you healing me?” he whispered as Jack watched in what could only be described as horror. Daniel might have laughed at his husband’s expression only he could see why Jack would respond that way, it was getting harder by the day to keep Zale and Johnny under wraps, now they were adding some more fun to the house.

“Daddy,” Claire whispered in awe, “I can see the mistakes, in your ribs and your head. I can see it now when before it was all blurry. I can fix it.”

And she was, Daniel didn’t think he was going to have any reason to stay here overnight, when Jack gently tugged Claire away from Daniel’s body he didn’t feel the pain in his ribs and the pain in his head had lessened considerably.

“And its really time to go now,” Jack said as he leaned down and kissed Daniel on the lips, then the forehead. “I love you Danny, despite all the trouble you and your children bring into my life.”

Daniel smiled, “Your kids too.”

“Damn straight!” Jack chortled.

Daniel rolled his eyes and gave another round of kisses as Jack slipped the snapshot into his hand and headed to the door. Jack leaned down and whispered something to Janet before he took all six kids out of the infirmary and for the first time since they’d been separated, Daniel heaved a sigh of relief before he flopped back into bed.


	7. Something Wicked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble is brewing and the boys are trying to be stern parents...

He played back the tape, and watched again as the boys were sitting far from each other, about three feet between the pair and then they were sitting close and all of them were touching. He didn’t understand what had happened and with the power down, he had no way of knowing what happened when Doctor Jackson was injured, only that in a split second the children moved faster than the speed of light. Maybe they had some sort of speed or ability to slow and stop time, he didn’t know but it was proof enough for his bosses to possibly step up their plans.

He hoped they would, he had plans to get his hands on the two boys since they definitely were something different, capable of things no one in this world had ever seen unless they had been through the Stargate which meant that during their time away, Doctor Jackson and General O’Neill made babies with some sort of alien creature.

And Captain Blake was looking forward to getting his hands on them to see how they might tick.

 

Jack got the kids out of the jeep, having left the truck for Daniel who was definitely coming home this evening. Claire had seen to that for sure, Janet was going to get her answers tonight because in the infirmary was the place where the kids seemed to get into trouble on the base and they could definitely do with another ally there and Janet was the best choice among many, she was above reproach.

He sent the kids to wash up while he made some sandwiches and served up some fruit. They all walked into the kitchen slowly, reserved from what happened that afternoon. Jack sat them all down with their simple dinner and ate some as well.

“Daddy coming home tonight,” Claire said and it clearly wasn’t a question.

“Yes he’s coming home tonight, not to long now. You guys know better than this, I don’t understand why you won’t just leave the doctors to do what they can for Daddy.”

“Daddy was hurting and I can help,” Claire said as she kicked her little leg at the table.

“Daddy was dying in the stairwell,” Zale continued.

Jack rubbed his face in annoyance, “You are always going to have good reasons to do what your doing but we asked you not to. The healing here is not instant and easier like it is with the Vannas, here doctors take time and they will do everything they can to take care of you and Daddy and me. I want Claire, Zale and Greer to pick something you want to live without until school starts and no magic at all, in or out of the house.”

Groans went around the room and Jack knew that Daniel would have agreed.

“The only one allowed to use any abilities is Johnny so he can speak but every single one of you, no emotional transferring, no moving things, no nothing!”

More groans and Jack shook his head; he didn’t know how to get through to them. It was impossible to explain to them that different could get them hurt in this world. He needed Daniel for this, somehow the scientist just knew how to talk and how to get through to anyone he ever talked to. Their kids, because of their Daddy as well as the Vannas genetics all of these children were incredibly smart, ahead of anyone in the human age groups, almost being referred to as genius by the teachers that helped the kids get through the grades they missed. Daniel had not allowed them to become complacent, continued working with them until they were comfortable with all the aspects of school that they were about to start.

“I want you all to get done with your dinner and head into the living room and start on your lesson plan for the day from Daddy.”

With that he walked into the living room, to leave them alone while he got some time alone as well. When Daniel got home, they were going to head into round two of this mess and he wasn’t looking forward to it. Claire didn’t even seem to know what she was doing when she healed Daniel and so she probably didn’t understand at all why she was being punished but he couldn’t single her out without making Zale and Greer mad plus he didn’t really know if Johnny needed a punishment because all his did was communicate with Zale but it was his vision that caused Zale to move Greer to pause time and teleport to Jack and Daniel in the first place.

Again, magic seemed to forever be making their lives more interesting than Jack ever wanted to deal with. So he sat in his lazyboy recliner and watched a little hockey that was recorded on a tape. He looked up as each child walked into the room, dragging their feet and looking miserable before they sat down to work on their daily lesson plan.

The lesson plans were another of Daniel’s ideas, the tutors got all the kids through their grades and left without another word on what they should be doing for the time they had left between the end of summer and the beginning of school. Daniel sat down every weekend for several hours, using the books they received during their time with the tutors and created lesson plans for each kid to do.

Zale and Zada sat down at one of the small tables; Claire and JC were at another of the corner tables while Johnny sat down on one end of the couch and Greer on the other side. Jack left them to it and waited for a little longer before he heard his truck rumble into the driveway and he got up and gave the kids a quick look, telling them without saying a words that they were to sit still and work on their lessons. He walked to the door and opened it just as Daniel walked up the steps with Janet and Cassie behind him. Daniel was still moving a little slow and stiff with Janet’s gentle grip on his lower back. Jack moved in close to hug Daniel and help him in the door and to the recliner. “I’m fine,” Daniel insisted.

“He’s just sore from the rib damage but he really is fine,” Janet said. Jack leaned down and pressed a kiss to Daniel’s lips who sighed into the contact.

Then Jack turned and hugged Cassie who was a young woman now, she hugged Jack tightly before she turned and waved to the kids. Jack waved them away so all of them went into the den to play with Cassie while Janet sat down on the recently vacated couch and Jack sat on the edge of the recliner to wrap his arm around Daniel’s shoulder.

“So, what do you want to know?” Jack asked, not willing to wait around for Janet to speak.

“I want to know what they can do otherwise you won’t have anyone to protect them if they aren’t with you and as today proved you won’t always be with them.”

“Well Zale and Zada can teleport, Zale heals but its not supposed to be his power so it tires him out badly. Zada has used shields a few times but we haven’t seen much of it. Claire apparently is a healer, it came to her almost flawlessly.” Jack started and he chose not to talk about the inner Magis in their elder children.

Daniel immediately took over, “We don’t really know what else Zale and Zada are capable of, and we also don’t know what JC is capable of because she hasn’t shown an affinity yet. They all are capable of telepathy with each other and sharing their emotions and feeling the surface emotions of anyone they touch. And Johnny…”

Jack sighed when Daniel paused, “Johnny has premonitions.”

Janet stared at them in shock, “He saw Daniel’s attack and what happened today?”

Jack nodded, “Yes, Johnny has only ever seen things to do with our family so far though we don’t know why. The people that we lived with could not tell us why Johnny didn’t speak and thank god he learned how to share feelings and sensations with us. He only recently started using telepathy.”

Janet paused before she asked, “You had healers and they couldn’t fix his voice?”

Jack shrugged, “They tried to find what was wrong more than once until Johnny started freaking out every time we planned to go to the healers, the attempts were hurting rather than helping so we stopped trying. As Akina and her people said, healing isn’t a fix-it for everything, people still die and there are still problems that won’t be fixed.”

“His inability to talk doesn’t make him incapable. He has taken to sign language and learned it quickly with the help of Greer,” Daniel reiterated though Janet had never treated their youngest son as though he was stupid because of his inability to speak.

“And Greer? What is he capable of?”

Daniel sighed, “He can manipulate time.”

Janet’s mouth dropped, “Daniel, that’s huge and scary!”

“Its how we were brought back here. Greer accidently brought us here,” Jack said, glossing over the fact that Greer didn’t actually have anything to do with the decision to bring them here.

“Accidently?” Janet asked incredulously.

Daniel and Jack shared a look, unsure of what more they could say but Daniel took the plunge. “Zale, Zada and Greer are special, more so than just having powers. They were born with an awakened Magis, which is a separate magical entity sometimes born in their people. It would be like having a split personality only the personalities are aware of each other and they live in a symbiotic relationship. Greer’s Magis took over and wanted to send us back, Zada put a shield around all of us, including Greer so we would have to go back or at least send Greer back to his family. Zada wanted to make sure we arrived together if we couldn’t stop it from happening. Greer is a sweet and loving boy, so is Zale but their Magis sometimes can be arrogant and they tend to make ill-advised decisions.”

Janet rubbed her fingers into the bridge of her nose before she stood and started pacing, “This is a problem you know that! We only recently saw to the end of most of the Goa’uld system lords and now what you’re describing sounds a lot like that. If it comes out nothing is going to stop even people at the SGC from attacking you and the kids.”

Jack stood frustrated as he stepped in front of Janet and spoke quietly in her face, “You think we don’t know that? They aren’t controlling the kids and each have found a way to contain the Magis in their way. Janet, you know our kids. You know what good people they are and they don’t deserve to be mistreated or have assumptions made about them because of something they were born with.”

Janet reached out and pressed her hand against Jack’s chest and pushed him back. Jack faltered back more shocked than anything but Janet deserved to have her space, she was here to help them. “I have been blessed to know your children and they are the sweetest kids but they also need to be watched and protected.”

“Watched? They need to be watched?” Jack shouted.

Daniel struggled to stand; still sore despite Claire’s healing. Jack rushed to him and took Daniel’s hands to settle him instead, “Jack, the kids don’t need to hear this.”

Jack nodded and took a deep breath as he rested his hand on Daniel’s shoulder then he turned to Janet, “They don’t need to be watched.”

Janet shrugged, “I think you understand that they do otherwise you wouldn’t be so mad Jack. They are good kids but today is proof that they don’t always make the best choices with these supernatural abilities. Just trust me, I would do anything for them same as Cassie who not that long ago was struggling with her own supernatural problems.”

Jack nodded and scrubbed his fingers through his hair in frustration. Gawd he missed the Vannas and the comfort of their knowledge. The kids needed allies and Janet was one of the best they could ask for. “You’re right, I’m just freaked.”

Janet pressed a comforting hand to Jack’s shoulder. Daniel nodded to Janet and took Jack’s hand as well. The anger settled and fell away; there was no place for it among friends and allies. Jack offered Janet and Cassie something to eat since he was going to make Daniel a sandwich and she gladly accepted so Cassie could play with the kids a little longer. After Jack served to the girls in the kitchen and delivered food to Daniel in the living room, Jack brought all the kids into the room for a family meeting.

Jack already had his say, this was for Daniel who had finished his sandwich and focused on the kids who were sitting around the room. “As Janet said today was proof that you guys don’t really understand the danger you are in because you have magical abilities. We have told you more than once not to use you abilities in public and you did it anyway. I am not saying I don’t appreciate the effort because as far as Jack was concerned, I could have died on the stairs but again my life is not worth possible harm coming to you ever!”

The kids stayed silent and Jack did as well, he was glad because Zale sometimes allowed Xylander to chatter in his mind and in response tended to say things that he didn’t truly mean.

“You have a couple weeks left before school starts, and I’m sure Jack has suggested losing something until that time and I agree. Each of you pick something that you enjoy and we will agree or disagree on whether it should be lost for Zale, Greer and Claire who were the ones who used their powers and put everyone in danger. Johnny and Papa and I will talk about his contribution to what happened but I need all of you to understand your powers can truly put you in danger here in this world.”

“Then why stay?” Zale asked quietly and Jack groaned.

“Unless Greer is ready to take us back, then we are stuck here and the SGC is the only place in the world where we would have the option to create the paperwork for you to survive in this place and time. This fear is going to be everywhere but the Command and the people here are going to be the best possible option. Greer can you get us home?” Daniel asked kindly.

Greer looked up from his hands to look at each of them, “I told you, Varrick did it and he’s not talking.”

“Then we play by the rules of this world, not the Vannas world,” Daniel said. He heaved a tired sigh and moved uncomfortably in his chair, “I think not seeing Haikon, Jacob and Ishtar for the next week should be enough for everyone to understand that Papa and I are serious. Okay?”

“Okay Daddy,” they chorused quietly.

“Go play with Cassie for a little longer before she and Janet have to go home. Aunt Janet is the only other person who knows on base so if you see something or need to use your powers, go to her but try not to need your powers.”

They nodded and walked into the kitchen to get Cassie, leaving Jack rubbing Daniel’s shoulders gently as Daniel rubbed his eyes tiredly, life with powers constantly calling the shots was something either of them ever expected but they loved their kids and would do what was necessary to keep them safe.


	8. Always Weary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family time and visitors coming...

Daniel slid gratefully into his big bed, after saying goodnight to the children who were saying goodnight to Jack now. Daniel knew that the pain was normal part of the latter end of the healing process, his ribs had been shattered in a few places and Claire and Zale’s healing probably saved his life but everything was still sore.

He listened as Jack’s rumbling voice stopped speaking in the boys’ room then the General walked into their bedroom, moving to the chest for some sleep pants and a t-shirt before he started stripping. As much as Daniel wanted to enjoy the show, again he was too tired to turn and watch Jack’s movements. Instead he listened to the shuffle and the ripple of clothing then Jack stepped around to his side of the bed and slipped under the covers to slide close to Daniel. The younger man pulled himself close to Jack’s side, pressing gently in close to the warm body of his husband. Jack immediately curled his fingers into Daniel’s hair and across the back of his neck.

Daniel sighed into Jack’s neck, “We’re going to be okay right?”

“Its still you and me against whatever right?” Jack asked, pressing a soft kiss to Daniel’s head.

Daniel nodded into Jack, bumping the older man’s chin in the process, “Always.”

“Then we are going to make it through this,” Jack returned. It was funny to switch places sometimes, Daniel remembered so many time in the Vannas world that Daniel was constantly convincing Jack that they would make it through whatever was going on and now the shoe was well and truly on the other foot. They could always be each other’s strength in times like this and it was just one of the many reasons Daniel not only loved his husband more and more through each struggle and triumph but also the relationship they continued to build upon. Daniel pulled back enough to press his lips against Jack’s mouth for a gentle kiss that Jack allowed to go on for a few minutes before he pulled away and held Daniel close.

“I love you Jack,” Daniel whispered into his throat as he resettled.

“I love you too Danny but seriously, you have got to stop trying to give me a heart attack because one of these days its gonna happen.”

Daniel huffed a laugh, “I don’t want to go anywhere and I don’t think I could survive you going anywhere so we’ll just have to keep trying not to kill each other.”

“Daniel, we have the kids to think about. Some day we might lose each other but who ever is left behind must be there for them.”

The scientist nodded again, feeling the exhaustion dragging at his eyes and muscles. He didn’t even want to speak so he mumbled his reply and held close to Jack and allowed his body to grow heavy and sleep settled into him. Comforted by Jack’s hand in his hair and pressed close to his back, there was nothing else to do but let go of the lingering pain and be with Jack.

 

When he woke up in what seemed like minutes later, Daniel didn’t hear Jack moving around the room or feel him close in bed. He blinked away the tiredness and rubbed his eyes to find himself alone in bed and the upstairs was quiet. He grabbed at the clock on the bedside and realized he’d not only slept through the night but late into the morning, he thanked God that Hammond gave him the next couple days off from work to heal the rest of the way. Hammond still didn’t really know what was happening, so he thought Daniel was on bed rest staying home with Jack and the kids.

Only Janet knew the whole truth and Daniel hoped it would stay that way.

Daniel sat up in bed and took a deep sigh when he realized his body just had a last little tension from pain and he rolled out his stiff shoulders before turned and put his feet on the floor. He got out of bed and reached out to grab the robe that was sitting there. He smiled, thinking of Jack laying it out for him after he woke up and walked down with the children. He wrapped it around his shoulders and stood, stretching slowly before he walked out of his bedroom and downstairs to find a very subdued Jackson-O’Neill clan. Jack was sitting at the table, eating eggs and toast with all six of the kids and no one was speaking.

“Good morning,” he husked. Jack, just realizing that he was standing there at the door stood and walked over to him. Daniel reached out took Jack’s outstretched hand and smiled up at his husband.

“What are you doing out of bed?” Jack asked as he pressed up against Daniel’s side, his lips caressing Daniel’s temple gently in a well-loved gesture.

“I was healed Jack, I just needed some rest. What’s going on down here, why is everyone so quiet?” Daniel asked, looking to the children who were picking at their food and not speaking

“Yesterday was just sinking in, Sam and Teal’c were supposed to come over with the kids today and I called to cancel first thing this morning. I think that our kids think that we weren’t serious and now they’re pouting.”

Daniel looked to the kids again, “You think your safety is a joking matter then?” he asked them seriously.

“No Daddy,” they chorused forlornly.

“Are you taking it out on Papa?”

“Yes,” they said again.

“And should you?” he asked.

“No,” all of them whispered.

“Then stop it,” Daniel commanded and they all nodded quietly. Daniel slipped into one of the chairs at the island table and Jack placed a warm plate in front of him. Daniel smiled at his caring husband and started eating slowly, speaking to the children in Latin and starting them on their lessons for the morning. Jack took empty dishes from the kids as they completed their breakfast and Daniel leaned down and kissed each of them before they walked into the living room while they still spoke in Latin and the twins switched to Spanish. They had not had a chance to really continue learning Arabic but Daniel planned to as soon as he could, for now it was just learning word-to-word translating. Daniel finished his breakfast and watched as Jack watched him. “What?”

“You amaze me all the time, every day of our lives. Did you know that?” he asked.

Daniel smiled, “I am not such an amazing person, I am only husband and father.”

Jack sat down next to Daniel, pressing his forehead to Daniel’s before they shared a short kiss. Daniel smiled into the touch and waited for Jack to speak since his General seemed to have words to speak. “You, Daniel Jackson, continue to save my life every day. You allowed me to talk you into marriage so long ago, and then again when we first came here. You became a fantastic dad and you helped to remind me constantly that no matter what was going on, what they are going through but the only thing that mattered was that we were together and we loved each other. You remind me of that every day.”

Daniel leaned forward, gentle palm against Jack’s stubbly cheek, “I only answer the love reflected in your eyes. If you think that you love me and our kids any less than I feel for you, I call bull because I know what I feel when I am in your arms. I know what I see when you hold the kids, teaching each of them your amazing talents or when you look at Johnny and smile at him.”

Jack grinned, “How can I not love our children, they are a part of you. All of them.”

The words were whispered across Daniel’s lips and their mouths met in a gentle kiss. Daniel breathed in Jack’s scent, pulling air from his mouth through contact and there was nothing more intimate than shared silence and sweet kisses. Daniel pulled back, “Just as they are all yours, my Colonel Jack.”

He grinned at Daniel, “That’s General.”

Daniel laughed at the response, it was expected as was their common joke on more than one occasion since the second wedding a few months before. Daniel was about to lean in close once more when the phone rang and Jack groaned while Daniel pushed his husband towards the cordless phone on the kitchen counter with gentle palm against Jack’s heartbeat. He answered and smiled a little. “Hey Pop, what are you calling about? Decided that you and mom are choosing to see your grandchildren and not playing games again?”

Daniel rolled his eyes at Jack’s words and was about to walk into the living room but Jack put a hand on his arm, shaking his head. Daniel nodded and found himself waiting, unsure of what Ben was saying on the other end of the line.

“Okay Pop, I will talk to Daniel and make some plans.”

When Jack hung up, Daniel waited though he was a little shocked that Ben did not want to talk to Daniel. “What was that about?”

“Dad and Mom would like to come for a visit, do you think you can get a little time off while they’re here?” Jack asked.

Daniel nodded, “Probably. There are documents calling my immediate attention but much of it can be done here at home and this is going to be the best time to see them before school starts and all of us find our days much busier than before.”

“I will have tickets drawn up in their name within the next two days, they said probably ten days to two week visit.”

Daniel nodded, “Sounds good. Are they going to stay here? We are already bursting at the seams.”

“Nearby hotel will be fine for when they wish for some separation.”

“See it done then, I would love to see Ben as you well know. Lauren it seems is still unwilling to let the past lie.”

Jack shrugged and reached for the phone as Daniel walked to the living room to share the news with the children.


	9. Grandparents Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Lauren come to visit.

Jack stood in the airport waiting impatiently for his mother and father’s arrival. Their plane had arrived and was deplaning and Daniel was at home with the kids. The archeologist was working from home for the last couple of weeks before the kids started going to school. Jack and Daniel had already gone through the craze of getting all the requirements for each child and Johnny was going to be in special programs to help him with the sign language and Greer was not going to join the others yet, Daniel was hoping to get him up to speed with a few more weeks of work, which meant Jack was going to be focusing much of his attention on Greer as well as Daniel would in the afternoon. Since Greer was raised in a world where education was based on magic and survival, he was still struggling to understand.

“Jackie!” his father shouted, bringing Jack’s attention back to the airport around him and found his father coming towards him, followed by Jack’s mother. They each held a small suitcase as well as a rolling suitcase pulling behind them. Jack smiled and reached out to hug them both.

“How was your flight?” he asked them, smiling.

“It was fine, I cannot wait to see my grandbabies so can we go?” Ben asked and Jack laughed. He leaned close to kiss the side of his mother’s head, noticing that she was pretty quiet. Jack was taking them to the nearby hotel to drop off their bags as well as get a rental car for them then he would lead them back to the house. His parents had been to his house once or twice after he moved there but it had been a long time and Jack and Daniel had been forced, with the addition of six children to build on their house and change some aspects of the house. All the boys still remained in the upstairs room and the girls still slept in the den/bedroom. Their living room was a little cramped but it was still beautiful weather so the kids and everyone were probably going to be spending some of their time outside.

As Jack pushed the suitcases into the back of Daniel’s jeep and helped his mother into the front seat, his father was climbing into the backseat, which was surprisingly absent all the car seats. Daniel and Jack decided not to shove Ben and Lauren into the small cab of Jack’s truck. Plus being able to put their suitcases in the jeep instead of in the back of Jack’s truck.

“This is not your vehicle is it?” Lauren asked.

“Nope, this is Daniel’s, he is home with little ones right now as he is working from home for the next two weeks while you are here and before the kids start school.”

“Did you think you would so quickly be getting them into school?” Ben asked Jack.

He shook his head though it was more in amazement than disbelief. “With Daniel as their teacher and Daddy, I had no doubt they would be incredibly intelligent but it was kind of a whirlwind the last couple of months.”

“He is indeed a wonder,” Lauren said and Jack looked sideways at her, sensing her subtle sarcasm. Even after his mother’s acceptance of their relationship, Lauren O’Neill seemed forever saying things that could be considered cruel or sarcastic. Daniel never said anything but Jack had heard more than one unkind dig against his beloved partner. Jack didn’t know what to do besides leave Daniel alone to deal with it how he would plus Daniel was his own man and didn’t appreciate when Jack played the knight in shining armor. At least she was no longer trying to convince Jack to leave Daniel and split up their kids.

When he parked in the lot of the nearby hotel, he allowed the bellman to grab their bags and they walked in to check in, Ben appreciated the tickets but he told Jack that he would not allow Jack and Daniel to pay for the entire trip for them so Ben was paying for the hotel as well as the car they would be taking even though with Jack’s discount for being military made it almost a laughably low rate.

After about ten minutes Jack watched as his parents were led to a minivan, which surprised Jack, but he realized his father’s intention was to spend time at the house as well as out and about in the Springs with the kids and that would require a larger vehicle. It made Jack smile at the thought of his father such the proud grandpapa.

Then he drove out of the lot with the dark blue van pulling out behind him, taking the shortest route back to the house and parked in the drive way and his dad pulled in behind him. They walked up to the front door and Jack opened it, hollering into the house that they were here and the herd of children sprang forth from every direction to give hugs and kisses to their grandparents, again Jack frowned when his mother was acting quite reserved with all of them and when Zale and Zada hugged her, there was some skin contact and they pulled back as if burned. Jack scowled at her and their reaction. He stepped out quickly and hugged Johnny, waylaying the little boy from Lauren until he could speak to her because as the twins usually had to reach out for other people’s thoughts and feelings, Johnny did not and he’d already had an interesting couple of days since the strange lockdown at the SGC and watching Daniel get hurt once more.

 _“Papa, Daddy is sad,”_ Johnny whispered into his mind.

“Why’s that JJ?” Jack whispered into his ear, trying not to bring attention to the fact that he was answering a question that had not been spoken aloud.

Johnny shrugged, _“He was on the phone with someone and now he’s in the living room.”_

Jack nodded to his father and walked into the living room, which was slightly down a hall from the door to find Daniel moving quickly into the kitchen. Jack put Johnny on his feet and allowed the boy to move to his toys on the other side of the room and he followed Daniel into the kitchen where his lover was clutching one of the cordless phones tightly in hand. He walked up behind Daniel and touched him gently on the shoulder who turned, with face white as a sheet and breathing heavily as if he’d seen some kind of spectral of the past.

“Danny? What’s wrong?”

“What? Nothing Jack, are your parents here? I made them some snacks and sandwiches in case they were hungry after their flight.” With that Daniel moved quickly to the refrigerator and pulled out a covered platter but Jack tugged him away from his task and pressed a hand to Daniel’s face.

“What’s going on Danny? I haven’t seen you this spooked in a long time.”

At Jack’s words Daniel gave a startled laugh, which did not make him think it was from humor. Daniel pulled off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. When he moved his hand, it was shaking and his eyes were shimmering with tears. “That was the lawyer that helped me in the case against Henry.”

Jack frowned, “And?”

“They released him, with a warning to stay away from me but he’s out of jail for good behavior!” Daniel hissed.

Jack cursed under his breath and pulled Daniel close as his partner shivered with renewed fear and all the stress came flying back from the months after Henry assaulted Daniel on the day Daniel and Jack got married again. Jack just held Daniel, rubbing the back of Daniel’s neck in comfort while the archeologist shivered into his arms.

“Jackie, the kids are saying there are some sandwiches…” his dad started saying as he walked into the kitchen and tapered off as his saw Daniel pressed against Jack. “What’s wrong Daniel?” Ben asked, walking over to press a gentle hand on the back of Daniel’s head.

Daniel shook himself away from Jack, giving a tremulous smile and hugged Ben tightly. “I’m so glad to see you Ben, I have some lunch here for you and Lauren.”

Ben frowned, “No Daniel, what’s wrong?”

“Henry was released from jail, slap on the wrist for what happened,” Jack snapped and for the first time in a very long time, Daniel flinched at Jack’s tone. He immediately felt bad about it, the attack was fresh in his mind and it was making Daniel jumpy. Jack soothed Daniel with a gentle hand around the back of his neck while Ben reached out and pulled Daniel close for another hug. Daniel’s arms gripped at the back of Ben’s jacket, his nose buried into the older man’s collar. It would have been almost ridiculous to see a grown man with a spouse and small children huddled in Ben’s arms if it wasn’t for that fact that Daniel deserved the chance to be lovingly comforted by his father, even if Ben was only a father through marriage.

“He won’t come here, he won’t come near you,” Ben soothed and Jack wondered if he should feel a little jealous since his dad was taking all his good lines with Daniel.

Daniel was nodding into Ben’s collar then he leaned back far enough to kiss Daniel’s forehead before he grabbed the covered tray and headed back into the living room where everyone else was still hanging out together. Jack pulled Daniel close once again, “Pop’s right, he’s not going to get to you here. You have me and the kids, the SGC and the rest of SG-1 right down the road. Did the lawyer say if he had a parole officer and all that stuff?” Jack asked but Daniel just shrugged before he pressed his chin into Jack’s shoulder once again.

“If he was willing to do that to me, what if he gets his hands on any of the kids?” Daniel whispered.

“Daniel, if my muggle brother gets his hands on any one of our children, they are going to make him wish he’d never been born. They all have defensive capabilities, you know that and they tend to go all wonky when they are scared.”

The younger man sniffled and chuckled at the Harry Potter reference, one of the favorites of the kids since they came to live in this time. Daniel had started reading it to them when they first arrived here and had gone through each of the books very quickly. Of course Zale and Zada had more than once thought it was amusing that magic only existed between the pages of these books in their new world. The conversation was also giving Daniel the chance to wipe away the escaped tears and take a few deep breaths and though Jack didn’t want to force the man to cry again, he did feel the need to know Daniel’s heart in this matter. “Are you okay?”

Daniel smiled slightly, “You’re right, he won’t get to me here. I’m sure the lawyer will let us know whatever he can. And even if he does, I have a lot of people here for me.”

“Especially your own personal General,” Jack grinned.

Daniel laughed, “Yes my own personal General Jack.” With that Daniel leaned up just enough to slip his lips into Jack’s for a kiss. Jack sighed into the contact and let Daniel take a step away and he headed for the living room, leaving Jack alone in the kitchen while he listened to Daniel greeting everyone in a saccharine tone that Jack and the kids would know was forced but Lauren and Ben would get the best of Daniel, as always.


	10. Mama Versus Daddy Daniel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren and Daniel go head to head...

Daniel forced the smile on his face when he walked into the living room, if he stayed in the kitchen a minute longer he was going to burst into tears again. He was sick of crying over any of the shit that tended to happen to him, he had never allowed it to change him and he wouldn’t change that now. He had Jack, he had the kids and he had loving friends and his job. Henry wasn’t in Colorado Springs and Daniel was rarely alone, Jack was right about the kids too. They were magically capable of taking care of themselves but Daniel also didn’t want them to have to. It was Daniel and Jack’s job in life to protect the children, not the other way around and Daniel was frustrated that more than once his children, especially Johnny and Zale had been forced into that protector role.

“Did you guys have some idea what you might want to do while your visiting Colorado Springs?” Daniel asked Lauren and Ben as he sat down in one of the recliners. Jack’s parents were sitting on the couch with all the kids sitting or standing around them, sneaking questions and telling them excitedly what they’d been doing for the past couple months since their last visit.

He wondered what Jack was still doing in the kitchen even as Ben and Lauren were trying to answer the question. Daniel turned back to them and shushed the children who looked at him in shock. Daniel sighed and pressed his fingers into the back of his neck, he was getting frustrated and taking it out on the kids, “I’m sorry guys, you know Daddy didn’t mean it.” The kids nodded and several walked over to hug on Daniel before returning to their grandfather’s side.

Lauren frowned at Daniel, “What was that for Daniel? That was a little rude.”

“Please don’t start with me Lauren,” Daniel sighted quietly. He was really trying, had always attempted to be polite with Lauren but after months of being here and the supposed acceptance, to have her reclaim this behavior was really just too much for the day he was having.

“Start what?” she demanded.

Daniel watched as Zale and the others’ eyes were locked on them both. Jack and Daniel rarely had snapping arguments with each other and even less so in front of the kids. He nodded towards the back door and the yard to Zale and he quickly started herding the kids towards the door when Lauren stopped them by standing and moving between the children and the exit, “If you never have these confrontations, how do you think your children are going to know what to do when they argue with other people?” she demanded, judgment clear in her tone.

“Excuse me?” Daniel asked.

“You heard me Daniel, you constantly send them away!”

Daniel stood and glared at the woman, “Are you kidding me with this, you have been around me parenting twice in the ten years I have been their father! How dare you question me, you have no right!”

Jack came rushing into the room with one of the cordless phones gripped in his hand, “What’s going on in here?”

“Your mother,” Daniel sneered as he turned towards his husband, even as he desperately wished he could stop himself. So much of the past came to the forefront with the woman’s questions and attitude. He should have known that a few weeks of kindness was nothing in comparison to the way the woman felt about Daniel’s presence in their son’s life as well as how she felt about Sarah. He took a deep breath and started again, “Lauren is feeling that I am doing our children a disservice by not allowing them to watch us snipe at each other. She feels I am making them hide away from fights and arguments.”

Jack slipped the phone to his ear and told whomever he was speaking to that he would call them back then hung up the phone and turned to Daniel, then looked at his mother. Daniel still wanted the children to leave but Lauren’s hand was gripping Zale’s wrist gently but Zale was tugging at her fingers.

Daniel snapped at her, “Let go of my son!”

Lauren frowned at him, “Why? Do you think I am hurting him?” she hissed.

“Her feelings are hurting me,” Zale whispered and Daniel took a step across the room when Jack stepped in between them.

“Jack, she is hurting him,” Daniel hissed.

He watched as his Colonel Jack sighed and turned back to stare at Lauren who finally released Zale’s wrist. His little boy rubbed at his arm as he backed away from his grandmother and right into Daniel’s arms. He rubbed Zale’s dark head, kissing his hair and allowing Zale to pick up the soothing love shimmering through their skin contact then Daniel nudged Zale away from the woman and behind him. The other five children followed suit but did not leave the room. Daniel did not touch any of them; aware of the anger he felt when he looked back at Lauren who was glaring at Daniel.

“What’s going on here Mama?” Jack asked gently.

“You left the woman who was your wife and the mother of your first son, you found this man who is leaving you alone with the kids half the day, leaving you with the school work prep. How can you possibly be okay with this Jack, you were a military man and a consummate professional!”

Daniel watched his spouse while Jack shook his head, “What’s going on here? When did I ever give you a reason to think that I wasn’t okay with my life here?” Jack demanded.

“Never,” Ben interrupted. “Sarah was with us at the house for several weeks last month and your mother is allowing the woman’s opinion to color her own.”

After the first couple of months of drama, Daniel was pleased to see Jack not even really react to the news that his ex-wife and mother were plotting behind their backs again. Jack was about to speak but Daniel cut off his spouse with a gentle hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“Lauren, I feel you are misunderstanding the little information you have gotten from being around my family for only a few times. Before we came here, Jack and I worked basically full time jobs, on opposite schedules, sometimes and the determent of our relationship in exchange for being there for the children. We did the best we could and when we came here, Jack chose to retire and I am working part time. I spend my evenings and weekends with my family. Jack also has only been responsible for the children’s education in the past couple of months, I have been responsible for their education for many years.”

“It’s true,” Jack cut in, not willing to stay silent.

Daniel smiled at Jack but continued, “Jack and I are both very passionate people and we argue in front of the children and we show them how to work through the feelings to the logic and for the most part they pick their own punishments. I will not allow them to be hurt by someone’s need to belittle another person because of their own misconceptions. Jack and I don’t do that to each other and they don’t know what to feel or say about it, that is why I do not want them to hear how you speak to me sometimes. It’s why I sent them away when we were at your place months ago, and I will continue to do so whenever I feel that is what’s going on.”

Lauren crossed her arms mulishly. He felt as Zale stepped forward and took Daniel’s hand as he watched his grandmother, “I would speak please?”

Daniel nodded, didn’t know what his son was going to say but despite his frustration and crabby behavior, Daniel constantly allowed all of their children and Greer to speak their minds when they felt the need. That level of acceptance and openness was a part of the O’Neill-Jackson household.

“I have been surrounded by many families for much of my life and my Daddy and Papa have always loved and protected us but lets us be who we are. What you want is for Daddy to be something and someone he’s not. If he were not, we would not be here. Neither would you. The person you wish him to be is an unforgiving person who must judge others harshly. Daddy is the most loving and accepting person I have ever known and all of us have known many people in our short lives.”

“You feel you have to say that, he’s your biological father,” Lauren returned with a sneer.

Zale shook his head, “I have seen into his heart from the time I was a baby and I would never believe he is without fault, he’s a good man and a good father.”

Lauren was still frowning but Daniel leaned down and kissed his son. Daniel knew that Zale wouldn’t lie, his son had been listening to Daniel’s emotions since the day he was born but it was something that Lauren would never understand especially since Johnny had never shown her the same emotional transfer he’d gifted Ben with because Lauren had never really accepted Daniel and that made all the children wary of her.

“Also, he is my Daddy no matter what, Papa is the same. Papa has no biological reason to love us but he does. We have two fathers, not two fathers and a mother. Please understand this otherwise we can never move forward. If you would have us choose between having both our fathers and one of you or one father and both of you, it is no contest. We are a family, not two families thrown together.”

Lauren shifted but said nothing, Daniel sighed realizing that maybe this was not the time to coddle the woman, “Henry got out on good behavior. Your son is free from jail and I did not respond well to the news. It’s the reason I snapped. I hate to say this but besides Ben, I have been amazingly mistreated by both you and Henry, ignored by Marcus and his family and Sarah, that’s just insane. Maybe you should go home and leave this family alone if you have no intention of really accepting me.”

Jack’s mother looked up in shock from where she was watching the floor. She stared at Daniel, “What? You would allow this man to separate you from your parents Jack?” she demanded, gesturing wildly to Daniel even as Ben stepped back, clearly telling everyone in the room that Lauren was on her own.

“Daniel is my partner and I told you both months ago that I would choose him and the kids if you could not accept him over this stupid shit.”

“This is bullshit!” Lauren shouted.

“If this is going to continue, I am sending the kids outside,” Daniel said biting off the sarcastic retort that he desperately wanted to release. He turned and motioned to the kids who walked through the kitchen and outside.

“Again, really? That’s what started all this!” Lauren yelled.

Daniel turned to Ben and Lauren, “I’m just curious if you allowed the boys to just watch you fight and curse at each other when they were nine and six?” Daniel asked.

Ben shook his head and Lauren had returned to mulish silence, “We weren’t perfect about anything with the boys of course as you said Daniel as well as Zale stated but we tried not to fight in front of them.”

Jack nodded with a shrug, which Daniel hoped he would have a chance to talk to him about later, but right now he had to be present with this asinine argument. “Why should I allow the kids to be here while you curse and shout at me?” he asked Lauren. “Why would that make me a better father?”

Lauren shrugged, “You want me to leave then I will, Sarah is back here and I can go and stay with her.”

“That’s your choice, Lauren but I am not telling you to leave. I am asking you to understand that I am doing the best I can for my children and my husband. Accept that Jack is not going to leave me for Sarah and that we live our lives because we talk about it, discussing what is the best thing for all of us not just you!”

Lauren gasped, being called out for her behavior. She was opening her mouth for another volley when there was an explosion close to the back of the house, Daniel stumbled and Jack gripped him as he cursed.

“What was that?” Ben shouted as he helped Lauren up from the couch where she fell.

Daniel looked to Jack and ran for the back door just as a group of people in black masks and military garb, Jack moved quickly into defense but the first guy shocked Daniel and punched him. He fell to the floor and listened as Jack brought the fight to whoever these people were. Daniel crawled towards the door to see what was happening and how the men got past Zale and Zada. He pushed himself to look out the door, all the while someone was trying to grab him and someone kicked him in his ribs, which were healed, but pain ripped through him. He kicked out at grasping hands and finally saw out the back door where all six children were down on the ground and deathly still. “No!” he shouted just as someone struck him in the back of the head and everything faded into black.


	11. Nothing Else Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unthinkable has occurred, what will Jack and Daniel do to fix it?

Jack struggled to stand up after getting a pretty fantastic beating, he watched Daniel hit the ground and had tried to get to him only to hear a shout from his parents before one of the agents caught Jack across the head and he fell to the ground next to Daniel.

With that memory fresh in his mind, he opened his eyes and struggled towards Daniel who was shifting around and trying to stand. “Danny? The kids?” he gasped, feeling the pain from a few kicks to the abdomen.

Daniel slammed down onto his back, tears escaping at the corner of his eyes, “There gone Jack, we need to call George and figure out who took them.”

Jack jerked forward, kneeling over Daniel to check his blue eyes for pain and possible concussion. Then he stared outside the back door only to find all six of the kids gone. His eyes shimmered with unshed tears as the anger rose in him and there was nothing to stop him from jumping to his feet and pulling Daniel up behind him and walked back to the living room to find his parents slumped back into the couch with darts sticking out of their arms. Jack reached out and pulled the darts from them and put them down on the coffee table that sat in front of the couch and reached for the cordless phone that was sitting there. He dialed George’s direct line and the man picked up, “Hammond.”

“George, it’s Jack. The kids are gone, a bunch of guys in black masks came at took them after beating up Daniel and I as well as dosing my parents. We need some help please?” Jack could hear Daniel’s stuttering sob from next to him and he turned to pull his husband close, kissing Daniel’s forehead and just holding him while he waited for Hammond to say something.

“Have you received any kind of message about them?” George asked.

“No ransom, nothing but us four adults knocked unconscious.”

“Okay Jack, I will get some people on this immediately, I don’t understand why someone would want to take them though.”

“Our kids are special George, if anyone knew one of the things they were capable of, the NID as well as any of our enemies would want them. Not to mention the fact that they would be perfect tools to use against Daniel and I not to mention many people who work for the SGC.”

George sighed, “You know Jack that if I don’t know all the details, I cannot do what I must to protect you and them.”

Jack heaved a tired sigh, “Well I promise before any of us get kidnapped again, you and I will sit down and do the last ten years in a debriefing, for now though I want my kids home.”

“We’re on it Jack, nothing is more important than getting them back. I will send some people to you so they can talk to you about what happened and so we’ll have a direct link from here to your place. I think you should just stay there.”

“Will do,” with that said, Jack hung up the phone and pulled Daniel close again. He listened as Daniel cried quietly into his shoulder, rubbing his hand gently through Daniel’s hair while Daniel’s hands gripped the back of his shirt reflexively. While he was holding him, crooning into the side of Daniel’s head and listened as Daniel pulled him self together and pulled away. He tucked his chin so he couldn’t look at Jack but the older man would not allow Daniel away from him without finding those blue eyes. Daniel shook his head a little, “Don’t,” he whispered while Jack pressed a gentle finger under the scientist’s chin and made Daniel look up at him.  Those beautiful blue eyes were shimmering; tear tracks down his cheeks and finding its way down to his chin. Jack gave his husband a slight smile but sobered so Daniel could see his expression change. “Daniel, we are going to get them back if it’s the last thing I do! Do you hear me?” Daniel nodded, “Do you believe me?” Daniel nodded again.

Daniel heaved a sigh, “Promise me they’re going to be okay.”

“I promise you that we are going to find them and nothing is going to happen to them. The idiots took all the children and they are going to find out why that was a stupid choice.”

Daniel nodded and before he could speak, Ben groaned and woke. Jack and Daniel both rushed to his side, groaning when the movement jarred his sore ribs from his fight. “Pop, you okay?” Jack asked.

“What happened?” he asked groggily.

“Thank God you were just knocked out,” Daniel whispered brokenly, still fighting the pain they were both feeling.

“Where are the kids?” Ben asked.

Daniel sucked in a sob, trying to hold it together as he pressed his fingers against his mouth to stifle the sound.

“Someone came here into our home and took them,” Jack hissed. Ben stared at him in shock.

“What?” his father demanded. “Why?”

“Pop, you understand that the kids are special, someone must have found out about them and decided to take them. The NID are the biggest culprit of this kind of terrorism. The General knows about it and he’s going to get someone on this. Maybe you should take mom and get out of here otherwise you might end up mixed up in this as well.”

Ben shook his head quickly, and then placed a hand across his gray hair at the temple with a wince. “No Jackie, you’re our son and they are our grandchildren. We’ll be here for you.”

Jack nodded, “Don’t make promises for mom that she won’t keep.”

Daniel looked away at his words and Jack didn’t reach out to touch him even though he wanted to, not wanting to push Daniel’s control in front of his parents. Ben wouldn’t care if Daniel was crying but the fight Lauren had with Daniel earlier only proved that Jack’s mother was using anything against the younger man to make Jack leave Daniel. The fight with her wasn’t over but in the interruption they were once again in the midst of drama and chaos, something that Jack and Daniel lived with most of their lives but his parents weren’t used to it at all.

Lauren started waking up but the knock at the door pulled Daniel away from the woman who woke confused. Jack helped her sit up and told her what was happening. Amazingly enough despite the previous arguments that she was going to stay and support Jack and Daniel while they figured out how to get their kids back.

Jack looked up when Sam and Teal’c walked into the room without their children. Sam was gripping Teal’c tightly and her eyes were puffy and red. Jack gasped when he realized what was happening, “No! There was never any reason to touch your kids!”

“It didn’t matter apparently,” Sam hissed.

“What happened?” Daniel asked as he pulled Sam over to the other recliner and they sat down squished close to each other. Jack pressed a gentle hand into his best friend’s shoulder. Teal’c nodded in acceptance of his presence but he said nothing. Sam sniffed, using a handkerchief she held close.

“Several men came into out home, in masks and black uniforms. We were quickly knocked out with some sort of drug and when we came to, Jacob, Haikon and Ishtar were all gone. When we called Hammond, he mentioned that you had just called as well. We figured we could all stay together during this time, trying to get the kids back.”

Daniel nodded and pressed his forehead into Sam’s temple while Jack stayed silent. He couldn’t believe that someone had targeted both their families; he could kind of understand Zale because that boy could not some to stop himself from using his powers in the most fantastic displays.

“Why would they be taken?” Sam whispered, echoing Jack’s thoughts amazingly. “They might have magical abilities but nothing we’ve seen and definitely others haven’t seen.”

“I’m sorry that your kids got dragged into our magical drama,” Jack said as he moved close to press a gentle hand into Daniel’s shoulder.

Sam looked up sadly. “Jack, we all had children and lived in another time and place. We made that choice without you and when we brought our kids back here; they were going to be targets no matter what they did. They are special and they appeared out of nowhere with four people who were gone for four years.”

“We’ll get them back,” Daniel said again and hugged Sam.

She nodded and they fell silent. Jack watched as Daniel gripped Sam’s hand and laid his head on her shoulder and was glad to see him take comfort from her and all the people around him. Jack had seen him shut down after the assault with Henry. Jack ignored the need that rose in him to pull Daniel close, take him upstairs and hide him away from the sadness in those blue eyes. They had never ever been separated from their children for more than a couple hours and they had never been the targets of the plots that defined many years of Jack and Daniel’s life. A few times in the past they had ended up in the midst of crazy that Daniel or Jack were at the focus of but never in the Vannas world were their innocent children ever in danger because they were magical. Jack and Daniel were the interesting people back in the Valley.

So Jack focused on what he could do, he got water and some aspirin for his mother and father. He was on and off the phone constantly with George and several others around the base including Janet who shared some information with him that he’d been incredibly surprised with, “We put a chip into Zale and Zada’s arms.”

“I’m sorry. You did what?” Jack hissed over the line, walking into the den and sitting on Claire’s bed and tucked her little unicorn stuffed animal under his chin so he could smell the sweet little girl smell and had to swipe at the moisture under his eye.

“We figured with how special they were, we should have some sort of tech in them. We explained what we were doing and Zale and Zada both agreed to the procedure.”

“They are nine, Janet! How dare you do this to them! You should have asked us!”

“You can bitch me out later Jack, I need to turn on the tracker and see if we might get lucky. Do you think it will work even though they have special abilities?”

Jack took several deep breaths and calmed the desperate need to reach through the phone and strangle his good friend and ally. “I know that special abilities sometimes can stop tech from working so turn it on and see what happens. Let us know.” He hung up the phone before she had a chance to say anything else, he didn’t want to hear anything she had to say. He looked towards the door, shocked to find Daniel leaning against the doorway. “Danny! How long you been standing there?”

Daniel didn’t answer the question, “I don’t want you to be mad at Janet, especially if the tracking devices gets us our children back,” Daniel spoke gently even as he stayed there. It was only through his relationship with Daniel had Jack learned he felt true comfort when Daniel’s hands were on him, his body heat was close enough to seep into Jack’s skin so the distance between them felt too large.

Jack stood, holding the unicorn gripped in his fist but didn’t move towards his husband. The younger man’s words shocked him to his core. “Daniel, its illegal to tag a child without parental consent at the very least! They are nine years old!”

“They are more than nine year old children Jack, you know that. They are special, they understand more than anything someone the same age understands. If she told them what it entailed and they agreed to it, we have to take that into account.”

“It doesn’t matter how mature they are, they are still children. They are my children!”

“Jack when we got here, they were essentially illegal aliens and we were dead! Janet and Hammond did what they had to and many more things just because they care for us.”

Jack slumped, dropping the unicorn back on the bed and started pacing. He didn’t hear when Daniel walked towards him until the gentle hands of his lover on his wrist caused Jack to start before Daniel pulled him to a halt. He allowed Daniel to wrap his arms around Jack’s shoulders and Jack found he couldn’t stop the tears all of a sudden. He gripped at the back of Daniel’s shirt and felt his partner’s soothing hand across his neck. Jack slipped away to another place and another child. All of a sudden he saw another little boy lying in a blood-spattered room and holding Charlie even after the life faded from the body. He looked down into that face even as it shifted to Johnny’s features pale and slack and he tried to push away from Daniel but the other man wouldn’t release his hold.

“She did what she had to do, let it go Jack,” Daniel’s words were whispered into Jack’s ear.

“I just want my babies back, I can’t do this again!” Jack whispered harshly, wanting to push Daniel away thinking about Charlie’s loss, how could he survive losing all of his family in one shot? So he just let Daniel hold him and rock him as the tears fell.

 


	12. Machines and Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids make contact with their parents.

Daniel held Jack tightly, letting his husband cry out the terror that Janet’s phone call somehow released in his husband. He would never know what it was like for Jack because his loss of Charlie but he knew the terror of thinking what their children were going through right now in the hands of people who don’t care about the lives they held were children. They were Daniel’s children and Jack’s children. And these people didn’t have any idea of whom they were screwing with.

“What did you say to me a couple hours ago?” Daniel finally whispered against the skin just behind Jack’s ear.

“We’re going to get them back and they are going to be okay.”

Daniel nodded and pressed his hand against the back of Jack’s head. He knew Sam was on her phone with someone from the base, getting another update but nothing was going to pull him away from Jack until his Colonel was ready to step away and face the word once more.

Then the phone rang and Daniel took it from Jack’s lax hand and pushed the talk button and pressing it to his ear one the opposite side that Jack was pressed into. He would rather have an uncomfortably close conversation on the phone then let go of Jack at that moment, especially when he could still feel the slight shudders from Jack’s body. The older man didn’t really do crying as it was but sometimes it was just too much and losing their children was opening up the pain of the past for Jack. “Jackson,” he snapped into the phone.

“Daniel, we got a short burst of data from the GPS before it shorted out, they are still in the city so we are getting closer,” Hammond said on the other side of the phone.

“Thanks General,” Daniel said and hung up. “They are still close Jack, we are going to find them.”

Jack nodded then with a sudden burst of movement, Daniel’s husband jerked back to press his lips to Daniel’s mouth. Daniel didn’t taste the passion and love beyond the fear that was choking them both; he felt the stress and pain fighting to the surface. Daniel pressed a gentle palm to Jack’s cheek as he pressed into Jack’s mouth gently. He felt when the single tear splashed onto his cheek and just poured his love out in the caress, he slid his hand behind Jack’s neck and relaxed into the kiss until Jack gentled and released Daniel’s mouth. Jack immediately placed his forehead against Daniel’s and they each took a couple deep breaths and Daniel watched as Jack centered himself before he pressed another kiss to the corner of Daniel’s lips and they separated and Daniel nudged at Jack to sit back down on the Claire’s bed. Daniel tugged a chair over and sat down as well.

“Will you tell me what it was like with Charlie? Tell me about the emotions that are choking you right now.”

Jack looked over at him in surprise, Daniel never pushed about Sarah and Charlie. Same way that Jack never pushed about Daniel’s foster cares experience. “I don’t know if I can Daniel.”

“If you do, maybe it won’t have the power to choke you anymore,” Daniel returned gently.

Jack took a deep breath and pulled away from Daniel’s gentle grip on his hand and he was sure the older man wasn’t going to speak only to surprise Daniel when he did. “I remember Charlie being this beautiful soul, so happy and content when we were all together even though that didn’t happen all that often. I was always gone with training and secret missions but Sarah didn’t know to be bothered by it. Guns were such a big part of my job that it would have bee strange not to have a weapon in the house. Sarah and I were outside, Charlie was supposed to come out as well and I was just starting to wonder where he’d gone off to when we heard the shot. I raced inside and found him there on the bed, blood all around him and turning ashen from the rapid blood loss. I couldn’t believe I had done something so stupid as to cause my child’s injury then death. We called an ambulance and I applied pressure as Sarah was on the phone, talking to the operator. There was nothing we could possibly do though, he was bleeding out too quickly and so we held him even as that shinning light that I always saw started to fade away. Daniel I still can’t really and truly forgive myself for that and now, its happening again.”

“Jack, I know you see it that way but our children are not Charlie, they are going to be fine. This is not a macabre history repeating itself story, you were right earlier when you said they didn’t know who they were taking. Our children are smart and know how to take care of each other.”

“They shouldn’t have to Daniel, that’s supposed to be our job.”

Daniel sighed and nodded, “And when we get them back we are going to do everything we must to see that this never happens again. Right?”

Jack nodded.

Daniel sighed and reached out his hand, palm up and smiled a little when Jack’s hand reached out to take his gently. “I think there is something in my life that I shouldn’t be protecting from you anymore. Let’s see this one last brick fall between us right now.”

“What are you talking about Danny?”

“The foster care system, that I was a part of for eight years.”

“Daniel, you don’t have to tell me to prove anything.”

“That’s not what this is,” Daniel said, shaking his head slowly. “This is me giving everything to the person who has done the same for me.”

Jack nodded and waited.

“Okay,” Daniel took a deep breath, “Mostly it was just neglect, people who already had too many fosters to care for just to add on another distraught little boy who had no one and nothing. I did what I had to, to stay under the radar and do well in school. I was sure that I could get emancipated so I could leave for college early but several of the homes caused problems for me.”

“Why would they?” Jack asked gently.

“These were the homes later where I wasn’t just dealing with neglect, there was a lot of shouting and a few slaps here and there,” Daniel was underselling the abuse a little but when he felt Jack’s grip on his hand change he knew he was doing the right thing. Jack would just want names and addresses so he could go and beat up people, “If they could discredit me even in the smallest ways then it would be possible to keep me from crying wolf on their behavior. It didn’t happen a lot, just enough and never bruised me. I just stayed quiet and stayed in the system till I turn eighteen and by then I was accepted with a full ride scholarship and I chose that day to leave it all behind. It didn’t mean anything anymore because I wasn’t going to be that little boy who didn’t stick up for myself.”

“Is that why you wouldn’t talk about it?” Jack asked gently, his thumb rubbing gently on the inside of Daniel’s wrist.

“I didn’t want it to let it consume but it did anyway,” Daniel heaved a great sigh and scrubbed a hand under his glasses and over his eyes.

“Why do you say that?” Jack asked gently.

Daniel fidgeted and tried to pull away from Jack but the older man wouldn’t allow it. “I didn’t talk to people, I didn’t make relationships with others. Sarah Gardner and I didn’t even really have a good relationship because I was married to my work. The only time I was ever alive before you was when I was learning something new or going on digs, it was the only time I felt like I was with my parents and without them there was nothing to live for anyway.”

“Danny,” Jack whispered gently.

Daniel stood and moved away from Jack’s touch, “No pity Jack.”

“Not pity Daniel, never that.” Jack’s words were a loving caress.

“So the damage they did in me was something I didn’t even recognize until you pulled me into your family and taught me to care and love others again, with Sam and Teal’c then with you. Because of you I fell in love.”

Jack snickered, “Feelings mutual Danny.”

Daniel finally turned back towards Jack, shimmer of tears making the sight of his husband blurry around the edges. Jack stood and walked over to him, pressing close enough for them to share body heat. Jack slipped his fingers up and slipped off Daniel’s glasses then swiped gently at the tears that were slipping from his eyelashes. It was the first time since he was nine years old that another person knew everything about him and looking up into Jack’s gaze and seeing that all-consuming, no holds barred love made Daniel want to cry even more. Jack pressed forward for another of those warm and wet kisses that sent Daniel’s heart thudding in his chest. Jack pulled back and Daniel hugged his husband tightly, arms around Jack’s neck as Jack’s arms pressed against his back.

“Thank you for telling me Danny.”

Daniel nodded into Jack’s throat, “Thank you for trusting me with Charlie,” he whispered the boy’s name reverently.

Jack pressed another kiss to the corner of Daniel’s mouth and they each took a couple of deep breaths before Jack smiled, “We should rejoin the others. See if there is anymore news.”

Daniel nodded and crouched to grab his glasses before they turned to return to the living room where Lauren and Ben were sitting on the couch, Sam in between them struggling with the need to cry. Lauren’s arm was around her shoulder, pressing her other hand into Sam’s cheek in comfort. Ben looked up when they walked into the room but Lauren paid them no attention, as if Sam was her daughter-in-law and Daniel didn’t exist, as if he didn’t lose his children as well.

Daniel swallowed the anger that was rising up to choke him, he touched Jack’s wrist lightly who was staring at his parents as well before he walked upstairs to lay down in his bed. He realized he was still holding the phone so as he scooted across the large bed and dropped the phone on the floor, listening to the clunk of the device and curled up on his side away from the door and all of a sudden, hated the silence.

The last time he’d been alone in a house without children was more than ten years ago and suddenly he wondered how he’d ever had such a problem with having children in the first place because the lack of small voices happily talking to each other or arguing about something they had read or learned or even sometimes over a toy. He loved hearing Jack talking to the kids first thing in the morning or arguing with them about the true goodness of Fruit Loops, the kids don’t really like cereal as they all were brought up in basically an organic household but Jack was constantly telling them the joys of his favorite breakfast.

Daniel thought about the time he’d spent with them each and every day, teaching them new languages and passing on to each of the children a true love of learning, not one born of necessity. He hoped where ever they were, all six of the children were together and watching out for each other and he hoped that if they could safely get away and find their way back to their fathers’, he hoped they would do so.

For now, all he could do was wait and try not to fight with Lauren whom he so desperately wanted to shout at. He pushed his glasses off, placing them on the pillow where Jack usually lay. He closed his eyes and started counting in his head and allowed the ease of the counting to calm his mind and lets the fear fall away.

He slipped into a calm mind space and found himself thinking of the home he left behind and there were his sons, Zale and Johnny, holding hands. “Zale, Johnny?”

“Daddy, this was the only way we could use our powers, they are keeping us separated and drugged. I don’t have enough mental clarity to teleport to them or tell you anything about where we are. Johnny started screaming and they could not calm him and so we were placed together. He gave me enough strength to reach out to you in this way.”

“Why me and not Papa?” Daniel questioned as he walked over and placed his hands on each of their shoulders. The sensation of touching them was much like as if they were with him in person even though Daniel knew he was sleeping and dreaming.

“I have biological connection to you Daddy and my emotional bond is physical as well, which allowed me to reach past the fogginess of the drugs.”

Daniel nodded and leaned down to hug them, “I’m so sorry babies. We shouldn’t have been fighting.”

“Its not your fault Daddy,” Zale said with his small hand pressed to Daniel’s cheek. “Johnny and I both were not very good at hiding our powers even though we knew there were people out to get us.”

“You grew up thinking that magic was normal, not something to hide,” Daniel shrugged. “We can’t change what happened, have you seen or heard from Jake, Haikon or Ishtar? The GPS isn’t working that we didn’t know about, something is shorting it out. Did the people holding you remove and destroy it?”

Zale frowned, tilting his head, “They were taken as well?”

Daniel nodded and he watched as the boys’ image shimmered and his hands slipped through them and he fell forward.

Zale sighed unhappily, “I am losing hold on your mind Daddy! The GPS is fighting with the magic. If they drug us heavily enough it could allow the GPS to do what is intended. I will seek to allow that to happen.”

Daniel shook his head, “No Zale, we’ll find you without you possibly getting hurt from the drugging.”

He watched as Zale’s form flickered and Johnny’s did as well. Daniel wanted to pull them close but he couldn’t touch them anymore. “I love you Daddy,” Zale whispered.

Daniel teared up at the words, “I love you both and we are going to find you!”

Johnny spoke out loud, since this was not his physical body, “We’re going to be okay Daddy. I love you and we’re going to be together soon.”

With that they were gone and Daniel woke from his sleep shouting, “Johnny!”

Jack came running into the room, looking around the room before he sat down next to Daniel, “What is it?”

“I saw Zale and Johnny in my dream. They are being drugged so they can’t use their powers. Zale said this was the only way he could reach out to me.”

Jack pressed a hand to Daniel’s cheek, “Are they okay?”

“They seemed so, I told them that we loved them and we were going to come find them. We need to call and make sure they are still using the GPS, Zale sounds like he might have a plan and though I told him not to do it he’s going to do it anyway.”

“Sounds familiar,” Jack said with a grin. Daniel rolled his eyes and chuckled a little. Daniel watched as Jack reached down where Daniel had tossed the phone and he dialed the base once more, informing Hammond or someone to keep using the GPS, and let them know if anything came from it immediately. Daniel felt Jack’s hand pressing against his chest, bringing his heart rate down with its soothing stroke. Daniel knew his kids were still in danger, and if Zale is to be believed were going to be in more danger very soon but he got to touch them and talk to them for a moment instead of the last time he’d seen them where all five of his little babies as well as Greer were unconscious on the ground in their back yard. Just like nothing could ever make him forget Henry’s assault, he would never forget that sight of them all lying on the ground in the grass, not knowing if they were alive or dead just utterly still.

“It’s going to be okay Danny.”

He turned and looked at Jack, “He didn’t even know that Sam’s kids were taken, whoever has them has enough space and power to keep nine children sedated and Zale is going to try to get them to drug him to an extreme point so the GPS will work. I don’t know if that’s going to be okay. Our children have never even had aspirin let alone what they are probably giving them.”

Jack nodded, “I know but they also burn through everything so quickly, their metabolisms are much higher than ours. We will try to get to them before Zale attempts his plan.”

“How do you expect to do that?” Daniel asked quietly.

“You know what I miss all the time now that we aren’t there?” Jack paused and Daniel shrugged, “Magic.”

Daniel nodded, “I miss Akina and Adrian and all of our friends there and the people that made some of these things impossible to pull off. Our children were protected, not targeted there. I want to go home.”

Jack said and was about to speak when someone else did, “Ask and you shall receive.” They both looked up shocked by the voice they had not heard in a long time.

 


	13. Plan Most Cunning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zale is trying to get them out of there.

Zale sat up in his bed, still holding his little brother’s hand. He didn’t want to let Johnny go, the little blonde boy was the only one of his siblings he’d seen since they were brought here. Johnny was sitting up next to him, playing with the tips of Zale’s fingers, pressing them into different sign language words he’d been learning and even after he was finally able to reach out to them mentally, the mute boy would still need some form of speaking with others who were not his family.

“We spoke to him Johnny, we are going to be okay. You know how determined Daddy and Papa are to keep us safe. They will not stop until we are home again.”

Johnny nodded but stayed silent.

“JJ, are you okay?”

_“I am worried about Greer, we grew up with stories of this world but he did not. He will not understand what is happening to him and the rest of us. We need to get to the others and find a way out of here!”_

Zale nodded, “I know you are worried about your friend but there is nothing we can do with the drugs in our system.”

Johnny raised his head then, looking into Zale’s blue eyes with his dark brown ones, _“Burn it out of your system, use your power to do it.”_

Zale wondered about that, he didn’t know if he could do it with the steady drip of drugs from the bag next to the bed and without the voice of his Magis in his mind, dulled by the medicine that the masked men were feeding them. Zale retained his hold on Johnny’s hand, feeling the younger boy’s need for Zale to do something, anything. He closed his eyes and searched for the fever from within. He knew that he could control certain aspects of his physical body and he could essentially burn through the drugs. He used Johnny’s hand as an anchor and unlocked the section of his mind that he felt the focus of his powers, especially the untapped ones. He sought out the heat in his heart and sent it out in waves, burning him with a fever and his skin started to glisten in waves. He didn’t need to wonder if it was working, he could feel his focus returning second by second until he was clear headed and Xylander was shouting in the background, wondering what the heck was going on and why couldn’t he talk to Zale for so long.

“Quiet Xylander or your going right back into your box,” Zale muttered and the magical being fell silent and Zale really started working, he sought out those who were with him, finding his three sisters, then Greer before his focus shifted to finding Jake, Haikon and Ishtar, learning each of their locations as well as how to get to them. Teleporting into rooms that he’d never been inside could be tricky and something he didn’t want to screw with until he had to.

Then he accessed his telekinesis, which was the easiest thing to grasp hold of in his slightly foggy state and opened his eyes and looked straight towards the door and thrust his hand out forcefully, releasing Johnny’s hand as he did so. The motion and magic jerked the door off its hinges and thrust it back into the opposing wall, making Johnny jump at the crash of sound and then the alarms started blaring. Zale knew they had little time and he wanted to force the people’s hand or find all his siblings and friends with enough time to escape. Either way was fine with him so he stood off the bed, ripping the needle from the flesh of his arm and then turned to do the same to Johnny who whimpered at the shock of pain.

Without a word Zale took Johnny’s hand and they ran through the shattered door and down the hall to the first door where he knew Zada was. He pressed his hand against the door and pushed, forcing the door to bend and break. He moved it gently off to the side since he did not know where Zada’s bed was in the room. He looked around the grey barrier and found Zada lying on her bed against the far wall. She struggled to sit up but she had the same bag and needle in the arm that Johnny and Zale had. He rushed over to her and gently pulled out the needle and gripped his sister’s face, making her focus on him.

“Zada Rea! You listen to my voice and use your power to rid your body of the drugs, use your powers to burn it out.”

Zada nodded but he could see how dull her usually vibrant brown eyes were at the moment. She still hadn’t said anything and Zale could sense others coming for them. He pressed a gentle hand down on Zada’s stomach and used his power to pulse out the drug but they’d been giving her more for some reason. He frowned and pushed more of his power into her, wiping away enough of the fog that she snapped up, her eyes a little clearer and he tugged her off the bed.

“Zale?” she whispered.

“Come on Zada, we gotta go!”

“Hey!” someone shouted, Zale turned with his hand out to push the man away only to find the man with his hands wrapped around Johnny’s throat, ready to twist and snap the fragile bones beneath the man’s large hands.

“No, please do not hurt him!” Zale said, wishing his voice wasn’t so high pitched.

“Then let her go, walk back to your room and sit down!” the man ordered. Zale glared but knew that anything he was capable of doing to dispatch the man would just put Johnny in danger. He dropped his hand and the man jerked Johnny out of the room and Zale followed quickly to make sure his little brother wouldn’t get hurt in the process of the man jerking him around. Another man grabbed Zada and she was shoved into another room where the door wasn’t broken off and undoubtedly reconnected to the stupid bag of drugs. Johnny was led into another room where there were two beds and the man strapped his little brother into the bed before the man turned, hand still on Johnny’s throat and gestured to the other bed. Zale waited for the man to remove his hand from Johnny’s throat as he settled into his cot and kept his eyes off of the man in question. He would not warn the man of incoming attack, not with his brother’s life in jeopardy.

Just as the captor moved away from Johnny, Zale squinted his eyes and glared at the man who froze mid-step then Zale jerked his head towards the wall and their captor flew across the room and hit the wall with a dull thud. Before he could launch a second attack, several more men were swarming them, one shoving the needle back into his arm while many hands held him down and the last jabbed him in the butt with another needle, delivering a heavy dose of the muddling liquid and Zale smiled a little, thinking if Plan A wasn’t going to work, at least Plan B had a chance.


	14. Magical Assistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone is here to save the day!!!! Kinda

Just as Jack was about to speak to the surprise visitor, Sam walked into the bedroom. “Hey is Daniel okay? We heard him shout.” With that Sam paused and took in the sight before her. She looked to Jack and Daniel who were in shocked silence as well. “Queen Zarkina?”

The young woman smiled cheekily, “Nice to know you remember me.”

“Why would we not?” Jack asked.

“I do not understand time travel and its ramifications, nor do I wish to see more consequences, though I would like to see my son.”

Jack looked away, turning to Daniel to see his young spouse cringe and there was nothing that Akina ever missed when she was in a room. She crossed her arms over her chest, and Jack took a moment to realize not much time had gone by for her either, she still looked the same as she ever did with her black and silver hair plaited into a long braid that lay over her shoulder. She wore soft leather pants, black as well as a grey long sleeve shirt with a black leather vest over it and black knee-high boots. They hadn’t even noticed the two dark-haired women standing on either side of her.

“Lust? Desire?” Jack questioned, despite having not seen the two sisters in five years, it was impossible to forget the two women who made it possible for Jack and Daniel to have their children. They still wore their wavy black hair loose except for several braids at the temple and down behind their ears to keep the dark mass out of their faces. They stood with their hands clasped in front of them, wearing leather pants much like Akina’s but their shirt was worn long in panels in front of their legs as well as behind. It was a strange choice for women who were fighters but then Desire and Lust were never really physical fighters, they had always used their abilities to stall possible conflict. “How did you all get here without a time traveler?”

Akina apparently grew bored with the lack of answers so she gave one of her own, “Well Jack, I realized that since Greer and I were living in close proximity to one another, I was able to use my base ability and copy his time manipulation power but it took me a long time to figure how to access the power especially without the presence of Varrick though Zara has been working to help me. Then I had to find out when you were. Lust and Desire gave me the answer.”

Daniel was still silent so Jack questioned since Akina enjoyed the process of laying out each piece of information for them, “How?”

“They reached across time and grasped the link between themselves and their children, it being a magical connection as well as a physical one gave us the power to follow it back. I could not find Greer’s link, it was not strong enough without a little help and they were willing to come with me and help me find all of you.”

“Wow, I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Jack whispered. “Can you find them?”

Akina frowned, “Why would I need to find them?”

Jack winced, that was stupid but she would need to know.

“They were taken,” Daniel whispered hoarsely.

“What is this?” Akina demanded, clearly pissed about them losing her son.

“That is why the sensation of them is so weak. They are only an echo within this home,” Lust said, looking to her sister who nodded.

“Just so you know, its your son’s fault we are here at all. His Magis, Varrick, decided that we should go home and Zada took him with so we could hopefully return to the world where our children are safe.”

“Explain to me what has happened,” Akina demanded, brooking no arguments.

Jack stood, even while Daniel grappled with his wrist but Jack shook him off. “Don’t think you can lay down commands here milady,” he gave a sarcastic bow before her. “You are not the queen here, this is not your time and we are not your subjects!” he was shouting before the end and Daniel heaved a tired sigh as he flopped back on the bed.

“Daniel? Please,” Akina pleaded as Jack started rocking back and forth in his anger.

“Yesterday men in masks came into our home as well as Sam’s home, drugged and beat us down and took all the children. Since Greer lives with us, he was taken as well.”

“And you do not know where they have been taken?” Akina asked.

Daniel shook his head across his pillow, tears slipping down the side of his face silently. Jack heard someone coming up the stairs, recognizing his mother’s gait and rushed to the door to close his bedroom door with the uninvited guests hidden from her gaze. “What’s up Mama?” he asked.

“We heard shouting, are you and Daniel fighting?”

Jack frowned, “No Mama, Daniel woke from a nightmare. We’re not fighting.”

Lauren nodded though she was looking at him like he was lying or maybe she hoped he was. “How you holding up Johnny?”

Jack flinched, “Please don’t call me that until after I have my Johnny home and safe again.”

Lauren nodded and placed a gentle hand on Jack’s arm, “May I ask you something Jack?”

Jack looked back at the door, hearing quiet voices coming from within, Daniel’s deep rumble as well as the girls though they were being really quiet. “Sure Mom,” he said with a long suffering sigh.

“Are you really sure all this chaos is worth it? Is he worth it? He was snapping at the kids the other day before they were taken, he’s been causing you trouble ever since you got back and it seems like your just willing to deal with all this crap for some twisted love that you won’t give up for the sake of the kids.”

He frowned, “You are never going to accept him really, are you? I thought you did before at the wedding and after the attack but you don’t want to accept him.”

Lauren glared at the closed bedroom door, “You didn’t answer me.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this to my own mother,” Jack said between gritted teeth. He was kidding himself about his mother, about her ability to let go of the past and let go of some strange control she thought she had over him. “I agree with Daniel, you don’t know anything about the last ten years of my life, actually you haven’t known much about my life since Sarah divorced me. You choose her over me when she left me and when I didn’t go after her and now for some reason you think that if you can just undermine Daniel as my spouse and the partner in my kids’ lives then I will leave him and return to some faux happy existence with Sarah.”

Lauren gasped, “How dare you!”

“No Mom, how dare you! If you want to stay here and be supportive then stop attacking my spouse, otherwise leave. I watched the pain in him as well as anger when you were so loving and caring with Sam and never once offered even a word of comfort to Daniel. He is your son-in-law.”

“No he’s not! Gay marriage isn’t binding in this state,” Lauren scoffed.

“Lauren!” Ben snapped as he walked up the stairs towards them, “Goddammit woman, our son is going through an incredibly terrifying experience again, this time with all of his children and they know nothing of what’s happening to them. You choose now of all times to force you issues on him again?”

Lauren slapped a hand over her mouth as if just realizing that this would be so much worse than Charlie, they knew what had happened to his first son while know all of his children were being held against their will and possibly being hurt though from what Daniel said, so far the people were just drugging them. Jack shook off the anger and the fear, looking back again to the door, hoping that Akina might bring them some more information about getting the kids back maybe.

“It doesn’t matter what you say or what you think, I am never leaving Daniel and its because I am in love with him, not because I have kids with him or we have some sort of contract with each other. I decide to wake up next to him every morning and go to sleep with him every night because I want to. You have been around for a few big dramas but have never been here to see the harmony of this house and the amazing Dad and spouse that Daniel is because you choose not to see it. Until you make a different choice maybe you should just go home, or at least back to the hotel.”

With another sad look to his father, Jack walked back into his bedroom and stared at them all. Daniel was sitting up in bed looking at him, reaching out a hand to Jack. The retired soldier took the archeologist’s hand and kissed his knuckles. Daniel smiled a little.

“Did you hear all of that?” Jack asked.

Daniel shrugged while Akina took the more direct approach, “Yes.”

Jack snorted in response to that, “Well now that you’re here, can you find the kids?”

Akina shook her head, “I began a search while you were arguing with your mother about your right to love whomever you so choose, I cannot sense them cleanly, it might have do with this ‘drugging’ thing that Daniel was telling me about or because they are beneath the surface which would further obscure their signal to me, even with all the children together, it does not seem to help me retrieve a more accurate location.”

Jack cursed, annoyed that even with magic they were not able to get the kids home. He didn’t know how long it would be before they stopped drugging the kids and actually started trying to hurt them or getting them to use their powers which would amount to hurting them because Zale and Zada would fight them off. The twins would do anything to protect their siblings from harm and further discovery.

He pulled Daniel close again, tucking his head against his shoulder and pressed his lips to Daniel’s soft hair while Akina and the twins looked around in curiosity of the room and undoubtedly the world they just landed in. Jack didn’t know what time they would have but maybe he would be able to show Akina something about the world they came from.


	15. What Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids are trying to get through the experience alive and together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some serious moments in here with the kids are getting tortured, it is nothing SUPER serious but if you don't think you can read it then please don't I would not want anyone hurt by my story.

Johnny watched as Zale lay there on the bed, his tanned skin looking pale and lax. The men came in and hooked Zale’s arm up to that needle and now he was barely breathing, barely moving. He was strapped down on his bed so he couldn’t touch his brother like he wanted to. Johnny couldn’t do anything to help his brother; he only knew of his premonition ability, there was nothing else he was capable of unlike his oldest brother and sister who constantly seemed to be learning new tricks and easily using them. He did not want the power his brother and sister had but he also wished he was capable of helping Zale right now.

Instead he was left alone, strapped down when the other men walked into the room, wheeling Zada in on a bed with rollers on the bottom like many had in the hospital that Doc Janet ran. He frowned and waited to see what would happen. Zada was awake and looking over at Zale before she looked to Johnny, “JJ, are you hurt?”

He shook his head in answer.

“Okay, your brother has already forced our hand and I want to see what we got from taking you.”

“What are you planning to do?” Zada asked, her eyes glancing between the man and Johnny.

Johnny kept his eye on Zale but movement out of the corner of his sight brought his attention back to the man who pulled out a small device from inside his jacket and pushed a button, which made a two prong end come from within the device. Johnny watched as a blue light flickered from the two prongs and he didn’t understand what it was until the man pressed it into Johnny’s leg and a jolt of electricity tumbled through the slight muscle and sunk its painful teeth into his bones. Johnny opened his mouth and screamed, one of the few sounds he was ever capable of making and he hated it! Zada jerked and tugged at her restraints while their captor removed the device from Johnny’s leg and he was left to breath in heavy little pants.

“What are you doing?” Zada cried out, Johnny couldn’t look at her to let her know that the pain was fading a little at a time. Even though it would have been a lie, he shuddered and shook under the press of his restraints.

“It would seem he is your weakest link, the one you would do anything to protect and so I am going to make sure I can get what I can from you, even if I have to use him.”

“Please don’t hurt him,” Zada pleaded and Johnny could hear the tears in her voice.

There was a momentary shock to Johnny’s leg and he whimpered, and the shudders began again. His eyes glazed and he saw the previous vision from a couple days before and suddenly his face was filled in and the shock device was only the first of many things this man was capable and he started struggling for real against the restraints at his wrists, stomach and legs.

“Johnny, just hold on!” Zada said and there was power in her words. She was reaching out to her magic. He could feel the charge in the air as it grew and changed. The man was about to jab him again with the shock device when he was repelled off of an invisible shield. He frowned and tried again but his hand bounced back once more.

He swung around and looked down at Zada, “What are you doing?” he shouted and backhanded her across the cheek. Johnny shouted soundlessly, “NO!” just making himself frustrated that he didn’t have any voice to speak with. He watched as Zada’s head snapped back in response to the strike and her skin turned red. She looked back at him, glaring but equally shocked; none have them have ever been spanked let alone hit. “Do not touch me again, and do not lay a hand or that stupid device on my little brother!”

“And your sisters? What should I do with them?”

Johnny gasped, he didn’t understand completely what the man was saying but the way Zada reacting there was something scary in the man’s words. She was screaming and jerking against the bonds that held her to the bed. Johnny looked over to Zale again, who was still laying there still as death, he pushed his voice into his brother’s mind, _“Zale please! Someone is hurting Zada and me, you need to wake up!”_

Nothing happened, Zale was still sleeping the deep-drugged slumber that he’d been forced under as soon as they were caught after the escape attempt. He watched as the man tried to push that device at Johnny again and Zada must have still been stunned because the jolt shot through his stomach, all the closer to his heart. Johnny’s body jerked up against the bonds in a shuddering painful seizure all while Zada screamed in the background, turning everything into white noise.

“Stop it! I do not know what you want from me!” she screamed and then the device lifted and Johnny was left alone to calm his heart, calm his body and cry silently in the pain that vibrated under his skin and delved back into his heart. The tears slipped down the sides of his face, his body twitching every once in a while.

“I want you to tell me how you do the things you do, the shield and the moving things without touching them?”

“Just leave my brother alone,” Zada pleaded.

“And you’ll tell us?” the man asked.

Johnny shook his head, _“No Zada, Daddy and Papa said that nothing is worth others knowing what we can do.”_

Zada turned and her brown eyes locked with his and nothing stopped her words in his mind, _“Taking care of you and the girls is more important than spilling secrets. Greer will get us home!”_

Johnny thought about his friend and knew Zada was right, it was only a matter of time before they would find a way back to the future and back to the world where they wouldn’t be tortured for being magical and being different. Greer would get them home; they just needed to get out of this place first.

“Tell me what you’re capable of?” their captor yelled.

“Maybe I should show you!” Zada yelled back and used her power to shove the man away from her and he hit the wall with a sickening thud. Johnny wondered if Zada had actually killed him when he grunted and groaned. Zada pulled at her restraints but she couldn’t get out of them same as Johnny. Zale was always the stronger telekinetic of the twins, where Zada’s shields were unbreakable when she wasn’t being drugged.

“You little bitch!” the man grunted as he stumbled around, trying to get to his feet. Johnny watched him start towards Zada again. Johnny wished again that he could shout something to make the man look at him. He forced his voice at the man’s mind instead, _“NO!”_

The man gripped at his ears and forehead, shouting in pain and Johnny frowned, thinking, _“Was that me?”_ to Zada who shrugged.

“What the hell was that?” the man demanded and turned to Johnny. He moved to quickly for Zada to keep the large hand from gripping Johnny’s throat, cutting off Johnny’s ability to breath. He gasped and tugged violently at his restraints. All the while Zada was screeching from behind him. “Let him go! No no no nononono!”

The man looked down at Johnny, “You can get into my head?”

Johnny shook his head, gasping in a few breaths when the fist loosened momentarily then it tightened once more.

“What the hell did you do to me? I have a massive headache now and I know it was something you did!” the man shouted in Johnny’s face then turned to Zada, “I could snap his neck, I could do all sorts of nasty things to him. Do you want that?”

Zada shook her head against the bed, “Please no I do not want him to be hurt. I need you to take your hands off of him and I will tell you whatever you wish to know.”

With that the man pressed harder and Johnny coughed, still trying to escape his bonds and fight for his life. He hated this helpless feeling, knew it was what his Daddy felt when he was hurt by Papa’s brother, it is what Zale and Zada feel when their magical counterparts try to rule the body they both living within. It is what he feels when Johnny’s mind is overtaken by a premonition.

Johnny couldn’t stand that feeling; he turned it back on the man holding him. He forced all that agony into the man’s contact. He forced the mental pain into physical pain and it shot into the captor’s hand and he stumbled back and released his hold on Johnny’s neck even as he gripped at his throat. He clawed as though icy fingers were wrapped around his neck now and then the feeling faded as Johnny had no physical connection to continue the magical transfer.

“Johnny?” Zada called out.

_“I am alive,”_ he whispered into her mind as he coughed and heaved in several deep breaths. _“I forced pain into him, I have an other power!”_

Zada nodded but she was more focused on the man getting to his feet again and an alarm sounded. Johnny wanted to press his hands into his ears, to block out the sound but he couldn’t because of the straps. Zada struggled against her straps while another man ran into the room, glared at the man who’d been hurting them, “What are you doing in here?”

“What’s going on?” the first man demanded instead of answering.

“Something is happening, we’ve been found and we need to get out and take the kids.”

“We can’t take them all,” first man said.

“Then take the strongest and keep them drugged!”

First man nodded and left them room, pausing to glare at each of the strapped children. “I’m coming back for you and I’m going to make you pay for all the pain,” he said with a smile that made Johnny cringe at the scary sight.

Then the man was gone and immediately Zada threw herself into action, twisting to free herself. Johnny did what he could but didn’t have the strength to do more than lay on the bed and watch Zada struggle loose as she forced more of her power out in the effort. With a frustrated scream, his eldest sister shredded the straps.

“We gotta go Johnny,” she said and jolted into stuttering action.


	16. Stupor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its time for the boys to go in and get their family back in one piece with some magical help.

Daniel had no idea how much time passed between him waking and finding Akina there till the moment someone called and told them that there was a signal from Zale’s GPS. Daniel felt his heart seize in his chest at the words that Jack passed on to him. “They got a location on Zale, hopefully the others kids too.”

Daniel slid boneless against Jack’s chest, who gripped Daniel with a gentle hand against his lower back. “We’re getting them back?” Daniel husked.

Jack’s hand gripped the back of Daniel’s neck, “Yes Daniel, we are.”

As Daniel and Jack were both retired from fieldwork and they were too close to handle going in, Hammond wouldn’t let them be a part of the retrieval team. Akina was anxious and Jack refused to tell her the information and even if she had it, one of them would need to help her find her way. Her world didn’t have things like latitude and longitude or addresses; everything in the Vannas world was built around who lives next to whom and what natural sights were around each house or building.

“I want my son returned to me so we can go home.”

Daniel frowned, “You would take Greer and leave then?” he asked her quietly.  Jack looked between Akina and Daniel but said nothing.

“You would ask to leave behind this world you so desperately wished to return to?” Akina countered.

“You know that is not true Akina, as soon as we decided to get married there was no true place for us here anymore. That truth was made all the more real when Zale and Zada were born and they had the magic in them.”

“You would choose to return to the future with me once more?” Akina asked and she focused on Jack. Daniel respected that, Jack was the leader of their little family and though Daniel and Jack made all their decisions together, it was no secret that Jack had serious concerns about the Vannas world and not only that he would truly be choosing to leave behind his family again.

Jack shrugged, “We should focus on getting them back first.”

“Don’t leave without giving us time to decide please?” Daniel requested and Akina nodded then she tilted her head in that dog-like way that made Jack always chortle and say that the Vannas were like dogs, hearing things that no one else could hear. It was true but not an attractive comparison.

“The team your people sent out, I am keeping my senses open to them and they have stormed the building to find the children. They have Greer and now that his signal is not muddled by the building, I am going to him.”

Then she winked out of the room, leaving Jack and Daniel alone with Lust and Desire who were sitting in the two chairs across the room. Daniel watched as they sat, looking through a couple books, at pictures and the words on the page. Daniel smiled, looking at the beautiful features of the sisters who were reflected in their daughters.

“It’s been a long time since we were standing in the same room as you,” Daniel said.

Lust looked up and smiled at Daniel, “It has been a long time, I am pleased we will have an opportunity to see our children even for a few moments before they are returned to their rightful parents.”

“Even after all this time, you would not seek to have some part of them in your lives?” Jack asked. Daniel glanced at Jack, seeing the worried frown between his eyes and tilted his head a little in confusion. Was Jack worried that they would steal the children away?

“We would seek to return them to the world where they are safe and loved, but it would not be to steal them from you and Daniel,” Desire said even though she didn’t look up from the book in her hands. As if his fear is not worth her full attention, which Jack shrugged off instead of taking offense, proof enough of the stress he was under trying to get their kids back.

The phone rang again and Jack picked it up, “O’Neill here.”

Daniel waited, listening to Jack’s end of the conversation which was filled mostly with grunts and single word answers just as Akina popped back into the room with Greer who was struggling against her hold. Daniel ran over to the little boy and hugged him, stalling his movements. “What happened Greer? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“He refused to leave the others but he is my son, I would find him out of harm’s way.”

“Then why is he so upset?” Daniel demanded.

“We have to go back for the others, Johnny reached out and told me the bad men are trying to take Zale and Zada while the soldiers are busy looking for the others. Johnny is going to get caught in the middle, he was with Zale and Zada!”

Daniel tried to calm the child but he refused, still fighting against Akina’s hold and now his. Jack rose and looked to Desire and Lust, Daniel didn’t trust the look. Just then, to make everything worse Sam and Teal’c walked into the room and demanded to know what was happening. Lust and Desire looked at each other, gave a slight nod then looked to Daniel and Jack, “We shall retrieve your children. Are you coming?” they asked in unison.

Jack looked at Daniel and they stood to join the other two women, just as Jack reached into the closet and pulled out his handgun and handed the other gun to Daniel. He quickly checked that the clip was loaded and looked down at him, wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

“We’re not really dressed for this.”

Jack snorted, “Daniel we don’t own military garb anymore so lets just get this done quickly so no one has a chance to shoot us.”

Daniel nodded, he didn’t really care about the readiness they were dealing with, he wanted his kids safe again. Lust turned to Sam and Teal’c, “Are you joining us as well?” she asked.

Sam looked to Teal’c and he nodded, the former-Jaffa was in better shape then all of them. “I will.”

“I will stay with Greer so you can return with Lady Zarkina, she is the strongest fighter and magical force. She’s the biggest gun we got.”

Akina nodded, leaning down and kissed Greer on the forehead, “I will return with your friends.”

“See it done,” Greer commanded making Jack chortle in response.

“He’s going to be a strong ruler one day.”

Akina nodded but said nothing. She reached out and touched Teal’c who left and reappeared quickly with one of Daniel’s training staff, since Teal’c trained the children here at the house once or twice a week, the training weapons were easily accessible. Lust and Desire each grabbed Daniel and Jack who were holding each other’s hand with the weapons in their free hand.

Then with a sudden and remembered drop in Daniel’s stomach, they were in a building thick with smoky and screeching alarms. Lust and Desire led Jack and Daniel into another direction while Akina led Teal’c down another hallway. Daniel trusted that the women knew where the children were and then they came to another hallway where there were two choices and the twins stopped.

“What?” Jack demanded.

“Janet and Claire are that way,” Desire pointed down one of the hallways.

“Zale, Zada and Johnny are this way,” Lust pointed down the other hall.

Daniel nodded and looked to Jack, “Go with Lust, and get them back.”

Jack nodded and jerked Daniel close and kissed him quickly before he moved away and followed Lust down the other hall, leaving Daniel alone with Desire. She touched his shoulder gently to bring him from his worried reverie and they started running, the ease in which Daniel held the gun shocking to him, it had been over ten years since he held a gun in a situation like this. Jack had talked Daniel into practicing at a shooting range once or twice after Henry’s assault but it had been a while since he touched the gun Jack purchased for him.

Daniel couldn’t tell anything about this facility, running through dark hallways that seemed to be never ending and all the same then Desire stopped and opened one of the doors easily. Daniel peered in over the woman’s shoulder to see his two beautiful daughters sitting together on a cot, ears covered with their hands and tears streaking down their cheeks.

He moved quickly to them and touched each of their cheeks, “Hey babies, lets get out of here.”

“Daddy, my heads all fuzzy,” Janet said.

“Me too Daddy,” Claire mumbled.

“I know babies, we’re going to fix that,” Daniel responded and lifted Claire into his arms and Janet easily reached for Desire and they stood and turned. They found several men rushing into the room when Desire placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and teleported them easily back to the house. He looked around, finding them all in the living room so he led Desire into the den to lay Claire down in her bed while Desire placed Janet into the same bed where the girls curled up into each other. Daniel knew they would be okay together and he turned to walk back out to run into Ben who was leaving the kitchen.

“Daniel, what’s going on? You were gone!”

“Pop, I can’t explain right now. Janet and Claire are in their bedroom and they were drugged, will you stay with them?”

“Of course,” Ben responded and hugged Daniel before he motioned Ben into the other room, Lauren following close behind but Daniel gripped her arm tightly, on the verge of hurting her.

“Let me go!” she hissed.

“Keep your hands off my daughters unless in your heart you accept them as your family. I will not have your emotions hurting them while they are muddled.” Then he turned back to Ben, “Will you have Sam call Doctor Frasier, she needs to come and check them over please?”

“Yes, just go get the rest of our grandbabies back,” Ben responded. Daniel released Lauren who walked into the girls’ bedroom and sat down on one of the other beds, away from the girls even as Ben sat down in a chair close to them, taking the time and energy to rub his hand over their heads gently.

Desire touched Daniel’s shoulder, “I feel Jack is in trouble. They need our help.”

Daniel nodded and turned away from the girls, not wanting to go but they still needed to find the others as well as Sam’s kids. He let Desire touch his shoulder and with another jolt, they were in a corner of a large room, thankfully being ignored through the screaming.

“Let them go!” Jack shouted and Daniel turned to find his husband with his gun in hand and pointed to several men who each held one of their children. Akina and Teal’c were nowhere to be seen and Daniel hoped it was because they were back at the house with Sam. Lust stood at Jack’s back but she and her sister didn’t have much in the way of offensive powers as far as Daniel knew.

The guy in the center was holding Johnny hand tight around his throat and Daniel sucked in a breath. “No, not Johnny!” he husked. “Not my baby.”

He took a moment as well, seeing Zale held against another man and Zada in the arms of yet another. There didn’t seem to be any extra men, just the three. He could see that the twins were heavily sedated, probably the only reason the GPS was able to pin their location as well as the fact that the men were capable of holding them down. Johnny was aware but he was slumped in the captor’s arms. He couldn’t really tell what was going on inside his little boy but he couldn’t imagine what he must be thinking of all this.

They had spent so much of the last six years protecting Johnny from the harshness of life and though they should be letting him see the badness but he was their baby and he deserved to have a childhood and this was wrecking that innocence. Daniel pulled the gun from his waist and cocked it, surprised that the captors hadn’t realized they were there and he aimed for the man holding Johnny.

He wouldn’t take the head shot despite his sudden raging need to destroy the man who would dare to put his hands on Johnny. Instead he aimed downward and took the shot, bringing the captor to his knee with a shout of pain in the aftermath of the shot. Daniel didn’t pause as he aimed again; not realizing the other man had raised a gun until he dropped Zada with a sickening thud to the hard ground. Three shots fired in quick succession, Daniel’s hit it’s mark and Zale was freed as his captor fell, holding his blown kneecap and another came from Jack’s gun into the third man and Daniel felt nothing as he fell to his knees, shocked at the pain he hadn’t really felt in a long time.

He dropped his gun and pressed a hand into his chest where his blood was blooming from the wound and spilling out of his body. He fell back into Desire’s arms and Jack shouted his name across the room, echoing in the room was the last thing he heard before he fainted from the pain and shock.


	17. Warrior is a Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family surviving together and making a big decision.

Jack shouted Daniel’s name as he watched his spouse fall, as the shot rang out and faded into nothing. He had to get to the children, Daniel had not taken kill shots and the captors were struggling but still moving. He and Lust moved to do that, each of them picking up one of the twins and Johnny shuddered into Jack’s free arm for a hug. Jack realized that Johnny had bruises across his throat and a split lip as well as several marks that were from some sort of energy device, marks Jack recognized from years of getting zatted when traveling through the Gate. He looked back again at Daniel who was being held by Desire, she was pressing a hand desperately into the wound.

“We need to get back to Akina, she can help Daniel,” Jack pleaded and Lust nodded before she called out to her sister to teleport them back. Jack held onto Johnny and Zada while Lust held Zale close. Jack watched as Daniel, held in Desire’s arms and it faded away. He hated not knowing where he was, the stomach dropping sensation before he landed back in his bedroom and laid Zada down and Zale was settled down next to her but when he turned around Johnny wasn’t in the bedroom anymore. Jack rushed out of the room, watched as Johnny stumbled down the stairs like he’d only just woke up and Jack realized despite his littlest boy’s ability to keep his eyes open, he’d been drugged as well. Jack followed him down to the living room where Desire was helping Ben to get Daniel onto the couch, and he rushed down to take his husband’s hand, pressing several fingers against the pulse in his wrist, heaving a breath of relief to realize Daniel was still with them.

“We called Janet and she’s on her way but this is bad Jack!” Ben said.

Jack nodded and turned to look at Lust and Desire, “Where’s the queen?” he demanded. She was the only one capable of healing Daniel at all, Zale and Claire were both still drugged and Jack didn’t want it to be on them anyway. He rushed to the bathroom and grabbed a towel and hurried back to press it into the seeping wound before he pulled it away and tried to figure where the bullet might have hit Daniel. It was in his upper chest, just to the side of where his heart was located but the blood pouring out of him was leaching the color from his skin and life from his body. Jack pressed the sopping towel back into his wound, pulling a breathy gasp from his mouth.

“Come on Danny, why does this keep happening to you?”

Ben touched his shoulder; “Maybe we should load up everyone and get them to the nearest hospital.”

“The kids cannot be treated by anyone but Janet and Akina is the best chance Daniel has.”

“That’s not true, get him to a hospital and we will stay here with the children.”

Jack looked at his dad then back to Daniel, he turned to Lust and gave her the address of the nearest hospital then let her access his mind to find the sense of what she was teleporting to. He showed her the parking garage and then they were there, Daniel held between them with his arms draped over their shoulders and as soon as the doors opened before them Jack shouted, “Help! I need a doctor!”

The nurses and attendants moved quickly to get Daniel onto a stretcher and Jack started answering questions as honestly as he can then dropped Hammond’s name who was Daniel’s superior and would be called, they wouldn’t ask question once that happened. Daniel was wheeled into a room and a doctor and several nurses soaped up and went to work, pushing Jack out of the room and Lust took his hand.

“I do not understand this place and its purpose but Daniel is going to live through this and you are going to come back with us.”

Jack pulled Lust away from the people and into a quiet corner, “Its not that simple, making a choice to leave this place. If we have to do it then we will but I have a family here. Friends here as well, that I wouldn’t want to leave behind without saying goodbye and giving them a reason this time.”

“Then explain and be ready. If the world you have here is one where your children can be kidnapped and Daniel is getting hurt constantly then why would you want to stay?”

With that Lust walked over to a vacant chair and flopped into the uncomfortable device, sat up when she figured that out and then slouched once more. She paid no attention to the stares she was getting for the slightly bizarre clothing but then Jack was still carrying his gun and the blood soaked shirt was sadly fitting in the hospital. He followed her lead, sitting down next to her and waited an indeterminately awful amount of time for someone to come tell him that Daniel was going to be okay. He was left to think of what Akina and the twins were offering with their presence. They had a chance to return to the Vannas world and Jack thought about Daniel being targeted in several attacks, about the children’s anonymity was in pieces on the ground. There was nothing to undo the damage besides run away to some far off place and this was the only place where Daniel could truly work. He thought about the information on the phone that he forgot about in the chaos of losing the kids that Henry’s parole officer couldn’t contact him, couldn’t pin him down. It was possibly that had nothing to do with Daniel but Jack didn’t understand how to keep fighting all the different negatives at the same time.

He would need to speak to Daniel about everything, when he wasn’t bleeding. He didn’t know if the captors would be able to make another concentrated effort against the kids but for now they were surrounded and Desire was there. Magic outdid guns most of the time. He looked over at Lust though suddenly needing some kind of reassurance, “Are you in contact with Desire? Are the kids and my parents okay? What about Akina and the others?”

Lust gave him a long look before she answered, clearly wanting him to see how annoying he was to her. “Sam and Teal’c are there with the children, Akina is not though Greer will not leave Johnny’s side so she is still in this time. The children are waking and worried.”

Jack nodded and rubbed his fingers into his eyes, defeat slipping through his head and heart. He spent a good portion of the last ten years thinking that if they were ever able to return home that they could make it work. He knew now that it was a silly ideal, a stupid hope and though there were good moments, much of their time had been spent pushing against some force, usually a dangerous one.

“General O’Neill,” a doctor called and he stood, leaving Lust slumped in her chair, picking at her nails with what appeared to be a penknife. He nudged her and tried to get her to put it away especially when others were giving her nervous, going-to-call-security kind of looks.

“Yes? How is Daniel Jackson?” he demanded.

“Does that woman have a knife?” he asked instead.

Jack sighed, “Yes but I have this and I don’t intend on using it,” he said as he waved the gun around a little. “Please tell me how Daniel is doing?”

“Well he lost a lot of blood but the bullet didn’t hit any major arteries, he a little tired and he’s going to be slow moving for a while but he’s okay.”

Jack pressed his hand to the man’s shoulder and heaved a sigh of relief. “Can I see him?”

The doctor nodded and led Jack back, he didn’t worry about Lust who was still cleaning her nails, walking through the doors into the back of the hospital the doctor led Jack into a private room and he gave the doctor a surprised look, “I got a call from a Doctor Frasier and she yelled at my staff until Doctor Daniel Jackson was guaranteed the best care as he is a consultant at Cheyenne. I figured it would be better to listen to her.”

“I have found that to be true.”

“Keep it short, he’s been in and out since we dropped back on the anesthesia.”

Jack nodded and walked over to the bed, leaning over his archeologist and rubbed a gentle hand through Daniel’s damp hair. He’d been cleaned clearly; his chest was bare besides the wrap around his upper chest, wrapped over his right shoulder and under his left arm in a diagonal wrap. “Come on Danny, show me those baby blues okay love.”

His eyes fluttered slowly and then he focused on Jack, “What happened?” he muttered then something clicked in his head because his eyes widened, “The children?”

“They are safe at home, you injured the people holding them and got shot yourself, you found the girls right?”

Daniel nodded slowly, “We got them back to the house before we came to find you.”

“Thank god, I figured as much but in the chaos of getting you here, I forgot.”

Daniel shook his head, “Bad Papa,” he muttered with a slight grin around his lips.

“I’m going to get you home as soon as possible but I gotta get back to the kids. I am going to make sure you have a guard here but I promise I am coming back as soon as I can.”

Daniel closed his eyes, nodded slowly. “They need you Jack, be with them. Tell them how much I love them and I will be home as soon as possible.”

Jack nodded, swiping at an errant tear in the edge of his eye, “I love you Danny, we have some big decisions to make very soon. Are you ready to make those choices?”

Daniel nodded again, “We do what we must right?”

“Right,” with that Jack leaned down and pressed his lips to Daniel’s mouth. He didn’t push into the contact at all; it was a mere pressing of the lips, to share the warmth of one another, to share this love with the other who continued to hold his heart captive. The love he held for Daniel had only ever been eclipsed by how he felt for their children but didn’t find the need to feel bad about it since Daniel felt the same way.

Jack pulled back, pressing his lips to Daniel’s scruffy cheek then another to his forehead, “I will be back soon my love.”

“I know. I love you Colonel Jack.”

Then before he lost his ability to do so, Jack pressed his lips to Daniel’s one last time and walked back out of the room, only pausing to look back. Daniel was already slipping into unconsciousness once more. He walked out to the hallway where the doctor was close by, “Doctor Jackson needs to have a full time protection detail.”

The doctor frowned then turned and Jack did too, only to find a couple airmen from the mountain and smiled, Janet truly did think of everything before anyone else got the chance. “It would seem that has been taken care of, Doctor Jackson should be strong enough to return home tomorrow afternoon, just have him take it easy.”

“Will do,” Jack said and shook the man’s hand then nodded to the other two men, “You understand that I am the only person besides the doctor is allowed to see Daniel without checks with me and the staff?”

“Sir, yes sir.”

Jack nodded and walked back out to the lobby where Lust tucked the small blade she was twiddling between her fingers back into one of her knee high boots and they left the building. Lust pushed them into a darkened corner of the building, pressed a hand on Jack’s shoulders and with another stomach heave, they were home and he was looking down at his very empty bed. “Daniel is going to be okay,” he told Lust before he walked out of the room and downstairs where voices were coming from the den and he wondered if everyone was shoved into that one room.

He walked across the living room and into the den to found Janet and Claire curled into one of the beds, and the other held Johnny with Zada and Zale on each of his sides. His mom was sitting in one of the chairs against the wall and his dad was holding Zale’s free hand. Desire was leaning against the wall next to the door and Jack walked in with a slight smile. Lauren noticed him when Desire pressed a hand to his shoulder in comfort. “Jack, how is Daniel?” his mother asked. Jack looked over to the kids, moving to crouch between the two beds, getting all five of the children’s drowsy focus.

“Daddy Daniel is going to be okay. Where is Doc Janet?”

“She went to the kitchen to clean up after she looked over all the kids, Johnny has some marks from something that the captors did to him. They are all still drowsy from the effects of whatever drug they were pumping them with. Zale got the worst of it. Zada and Johnny both have split lips and bruises in a couple places. There was nothing more to the bruises besides someone trying to force them to give information but they are all quiet and subdued.”

Through the whole thing the kids said nothing so Jack leaned down and kissed each of them gently. He remained on the floor between the mattresses and waited to find out when they were going to get back to the hospital and pick up Daniel. He had one of his hands pressed against Johnny’s gently moving stomach where Zale and Zada’s hands were pressed on top of his. His other hand was holding one each of Janet and Claire’s hands as well.

“Where is Sam and Teal’c? Their kids? And Akina?” he asked in quick succession.

“Sam and Teal’c were reunited with their children and they went home to sleep, Janet saw each of the kids first and sent them on their way. Akina and Greer are upstairs in the boys’ room I think,” his dad replied. “Sam said they are coming back in the morning, to speak to Akina about the option she is giving you. What did that mean Jack?”

“The option to return to where they were all these years,” Akina stated from the doorway as Greer moved into the room and climbed up on the bed behind Zada and pressed his hand to Johnny’s stomach as well which meant that Jack helped him up since he was sitting on that side of the bed. Jack rubbed Greer’s back gently; glad the little boy was back with his mother.

Then Jack looked to his father and mother, heaved a sigh and prepared for the real truth to come out while he continued to rub Greer’s back then touching Zada’s fingers where it was resting on Greer. He didn’t want to leave the children so they were going to have this conversation here, it might keep a lid on his mother’s bizarre behavior but Ben was already struggling with the statement Akina had made. “So we were in the future for the last ten years, living among the people who Akina leads. They are magical, which is why the kids have powers, they were born of surrogates who had powers. Lust and Desire are their birth mothers.”

After that, everyone was silent. Akina chuckled, “You sure know how to just leap into the deep end.”

Lauren looked at the twins then back at Jack, “You slept with these women? I thought you loved Daniel?” she sneered.

Jack snorted, “Of course not, it was insemination which we didn’t even help with, just gave them the baby making juice. I could tell you all about how we got the goods though.”

Akina laughed at that while Lauren shook her head, disgust clear on her face. Jack had no intention of talking that frankly in front of his children but watching her response was fun all the same. “Greer has the ability to travel in time and he sent them all here. Now I am taking my son home and I would like to bring them back with me.”

“Why would you do that?” Ben asked.

“The children are magical and they are going to be safe in the future among the people who do not think supernatural abilities are out of place. They were taken because someone thought they were possibly special, your children were drugged and harmed because of their differences. How can you choose to remain here?”

Jack shrugged, “Its hard to leave behind my family.”

“Jack, you need to talk to Daniel but if you are all going to be safe there then you should consider going back.”

Jack was surprised at his father and apparently so was his mother, “What? Ben, are you serious! You cannot be okay with sending our son away with this woman to a place where we will never see him again!”

Ben stood and faced his wife, Jack just watched. “Are you willing to say they should stay here where the children were kidnapped, where Daniel was shot and where our other son assaulted Daniel?”

“Why should I care about Daniel? He’s not legally married to Jack, no matter what sort of empty ceremony they had us watch. I’m sure that Daniel is the reason why they had the children to start with. Half of these children are not even related to us. Jack is our son and you’re giving him up for this bizarre relationship he’s in.”

Jack sighed, “If you’re going to continue this Daniel bashing, take it outside. And by the way, whether you believe in our marriage or the fact that our children are not genetically both of ours, it changes nothing.”

His mother scoffed and walked out of the room, pushing past Akina rudely. Ben followed as well and their voices faded as they walked towards the front of the house and he couldn’t make out what they were saying anymore.

“You have been living with that for some time now?” Akina asked.

Jack shrugged, “Been working through it.”

“As a good friend of Daniel I would like to not see him stay here but mostly for the children, you should really consider the opportunity of returning with me. They will be safe there and the only people who have ever been kidnapped from your home is you.” Jack glared at that, “And you are loved and missed by all. Adrian and DK started working off the island because they could not handle walking past your home and seeing it dark. You have a home there, can you honestly say it would be the same here if you stay?”

Jack shrugged again and continued to touch his children. Soon Akina and Greer went back upstairs to go to bed in the boys’ room. Jack found himself staying where he was even when Ben came in to let him know he was taking Lauren back to the hotel and they would come back the next morning. Jack waited, only leaving the den to get a little bit of food, sticking to something simple when each of the kids would mention hunger as they fought their way out of the drugged stupor.

He thought about all the times when they were in the Vannas world and the magical crap got to be too much and he would wish to go home and now there was nothing he wanted more than to return with Akina and Greer. He would miss his family, Janet and Hammond. But after watching Daniel struggle, get hurt and the children getting stolen from their backyard it was hard to imagine that it would get better. He was sure it would but at what cost? Would it happen before Zale got taken again or Johnny was beat for being different? Would it happen before Henry decided to come back and finish the job on Daniel or someone else on base blamed Daniel for some weird thing like Jack being gay or not being a part of the program anymore.

“Papa, may we have a say in our path as well?” Zada whispered slowly. Jack turned to find her small and beautiful face tilted to look at Jack. He focused on her soft features, he could see himself in her cheeks and face but she was the most beautiful and feminine creature he’d ever had a hand in creating.

He smiled and touched her soft cheek, “Of course baby girl.”

“This place is filled with people who will use us against each other, they will do what they must to hurt us and use us for our powers. People hurt Daddy because of something that we didn’t ever think was wrong.” Zada sniffled and her voice broke a little as she continued, “I don’t want to stay in a place where you or Daddy are hurt for loving each other, or we could be stolen away at any moment again because we happen to be different. I wanna go home with Queen Zarkina where we struggled together but at least we were accepted.”

Jack leaned forward and pressed his lips to Zada’s forehead, “As soon as Daddy is home, we will talk it over. Are you okay?”

Zada nodded, “Everything is still fuzzy and Doc Janet did not want to give us pain killers. I was not hurt badly; I am more worried for Johnny. He used his power defensively, causing his captor pain and he never had to do that before. I wished that he’d never learned he could because that would mean he’d never been hurt.”

Jack frowned; he hadn’t known that, too much had happened at the same time for them to get the low down on everything that occurred. “How was Zale?”

“I was not held in the same room with Zale but when I saw him he was heavily drugged and did not move at all. It was like he was dead, I do not wish to ever see such a thing again and if that means we go back with Zarkina, is it worth it?”

Jack couldn’t stop the tears that slipped from his eyelids; he didn’t know how to tell his daughter no especially when she made a fair point. Their children were all too smart not to have a say in the final decision but Jack pretty much knew now where home was and it wasn’t in this place full of judgmental people and though there were people who loved them and supported him and Daniel ever since they got back, nothing could undo the damage that they now faced. People knew to go after the children and Jack would do anything to keep that from happening again.


	18. Goodbye Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of hurt!Daniel and comfort as well as a final decision.

Daniel woke slowly, to the slow glide of fingers through his hair. He frowned and turned to see Jack sitting next to the bed. “Hey,” he whispered, his voice raw from sleep and the pain pills.

“Hey Danny,” Jack whispered as his fingers never stopped the gentle caress.

“Where are my babies?” Daniel asked.

Jack smiled and used his hand to tilt Daniel’s face around and he turned to find all five of his children on the other side of the bed. Their hands were suddenly pressed close to him, their emotions slipping into Daniel through skin on skin contact. It was subtle, but the love was there and Daniel grinned in response.

“Daddy!” they chorused in quiet excitement.

“Hey babies, how are you feeling?” Daniel asked.

“Good,” they said in unison.

“We are bringing you home now,” Zale told Daniel and leaned forward to press his small hand against Daniel’s cheek. He smiled gently and pressed his lips to the palm of his son’s hand. Then he turned back to Jack and smiled.

“I wanna go home Jack, our real home.”

Jack nodded, “That’s the topic for today, as soon as we get you into a wheel chair and get you back to the house. Akina wants to discuss what is going to happen and hear our decision.”

Daniel nodded slowly then allowed Jack to help him sit up on the bed. Jack shooed the children to the other side of the curtain and Jack helped him into some sweat pants and a zip sweater, wincing when Daniel had to pull against his wound to put his arms through the sleeves. Jack knelt in front of him and slipped on some tennis shoes then Jack fumbled for something in his pocket, bringing out the flash of silver that Daniel didn’t even realize wasn’t on his finger.

“How did you get that?” Daniel asked as Jack slipped his wedding ring back onto Daniel’s left hand.

Jack smiled, “They took it off before doing x-rays and everything, they were concerned about swelling so they gave it to me along with your other personal affects which didn’t include much. Mostly the clothes they cut off and your shoes which was without blood thankfully.”

Daniel pressed his hand to Jack’s cheek as the other man stood and stepped between Daniel’s spread legs. He noticed now that Daniel was more alert that his husband looked incredibly tired, verging on the edge of sick-child exhaustion which not a huge part of their life but when Zada had gotten sick before they were forced back here the weariness in Jack’s features were reminiscent of those days. “You slept with the children? On the floor or something?” Daniel asked.

“How’d you know that? Are you magical like your son?” Jack asked with a smirk.

“Of course not Jack, I just know you. With me here and the kids coming down from whatever those bastards did to them, I am guessing you weren’t willing to leave their side.”

Jack shrugged, “Well after knowing each other for more than ten years, I guess it’s not hard to understand that you could guess what I am going to do in any given situation.”

Daniel twitched a quick smile and sobered looking up into Jack’s brown eyes, “Tell me about them, are they doing okay?”

“I had the Doc run full panels and some tests, the drugs have completely worn off for all of them. Johnny has been very withdrawn and Zada is worried about him. Zada and Johnny both have some bruising and split lips from where somebody hit them, Johnny was hit with a stun stick I think as well as choked. They just want to go home where we were all safe. If Akina hadn’t shown up, I would be willing to keep trying but now, I’m with you.”

Daniel nodded, worried about Johnny and Zada as well as Zale whom he knew had forced his captors to drug him to the point of destroying his connection to the magic so his GPS would work. It was the reason they’d been able to find them but he didn’t know what the long-term side effects might be.

“Hey, we are all going to be okay Danny, we all made it through.”

Sighing, Daniel allowed himself to be tucked into the wheel chair even though he didn’t feel like he needed to be in it at all. Jack pushed him through the hospital and then after signing them out, they walked with the gaggle of five children all around the wheelchair. Johnny was holding one of Daniel’s hands and he couldn’t help but notice that his little boy wasn’t transmitting the warm feelings he usually did. Johnny, for the first time in his short life, was closed off from his Daddy and that was more frightening than any other response. Daniel pulled the hand close, leaning over to press his lips to the skin of Johnny’s knuckles and the little boy turned to give him a sad little smile. They got outside and Jack loaded the kids into the car then helped Daniel into the front seat before they headed back to the house. Daniel closed his eyes and just let the quiet conversation in the back of the van wash over him, nobody was being loud or enthusiastic but they weren’t silent. Daniel felt Jack’s hand slip into his for the rest of the trip and when they arrived Jack helped his injured spouse into the house. The children wandered in around them as Daniel was pressed slowly into the couch then Johnny climbed up to curl up next to Daniel, then Zale and Zada climbed up as well on the other side. Janet and Claire smooshed themselves between Daniel’s legs and he looked up at Jack who was scratching his head, “Well I guess I’ve been replaced huh?”

“No. You could never be replaced, I got some lips here for you even if we can’t sit together,” Daniel said. Jack chuckled before he leaned down and pressed his lips to Daniel gently then he sat on one of the arms of the couch. Daniel looked over and watched as Akina, Greer, Lust and Desire walked in from the kitchen. They must have been outside playing in the backyard. Teal’c and Sam came in as well with their children who were quiet and withdrawn as well. They all piled into the living room and stayed quiet.

“Well here we all are,” Akina started. “How are you feeling Daniel?”

Daniel nodded but didn’t say anything. Akina nodded then she tilted her head and Daniel could feel the woman slipping into his mind and after the last nine years with the children he didn’t care so much anymore even though it was rude. That was just Akina.

“Knock it off,” Daniel whispered, “I’m doing fine.”

“Uh huh,” she said though it pretty much sounded like she didn’t believe him.

Then the doorbell rang and Jack stood quickly, going to open it to show someone in. Daniel was surprised to find George Hammond and Janet there as well as Jack’s parents. Ben and Lauren moved to sit at one of the tables where the children did their homework most afternoons and George and Janet were offered seats quickly. “What’s the damage George?” Jack asked.

“The only way we can really protect you is if you go through the Stargate and do not come back. The people who took the children were obviously not wiped out in the raid and there is clearly a leak in the SGC otherwise they would have never known. We found footage of Zale using his abilities though it was subtle; they were looking for proof of supernatural abilities.”

“NID can get through the Stargate,” Jack interrupted, “The only option that can truly keep the children safe is returning to the Vannas time with Akina.”

“Akina?” Hammond asked.

Akina raised her hand, “That would be me, the Magical Queen of the Vannas. And you are?”

Hammond shook his head and proceeded to look at Daniel then Jack, “Is she serious?”

Daniel nodded, “She’s also Greer’s mother. Greer is the one who brought us here, with Akina’s help they can get us all back.”

“Our kids are at risk as well?” Teal’c asked though it didn’t really sound like a question. Hammond nodded anyway. Sam pressed her lips to Ishtar’s curly hair where she was sitting in her mom’s lap.

“They were taken same time that Jack and Daniel’s kids were taken. They didn’t have any reason to take them but it happened anyway,” Hammond responded.

“We should start packing up a few things to take with us, some of the school materials for the kids and start making up the stories to explain our disappearance again,” Jack responded.

“You shall return home then?” Akina asked for clarification.

“No! No Jack you can’t do this!” Lauren shouted, causing everyone to flinch especially the kids.

Daniel frowned at the woman amazed at her attitude, “Please don’t yell in front of the kids, they just got brought back home from being kidnapped and drugged.”

Lauren glared at him before turning back to Jack, “Are you seriously considering leaving us behind again? You want us to never know if you make it there or that you have a good life. You are walking away from your family again!”

Jack stood next to the couch, putting a gentle hand on Daniel’s shoulder, “I am picking my family. The children will be safe and accepted and I love you both so much and I hate the idea of leaving you guys again but just know that my children have to come first. I already lost one child, do you really want to see me lose another, let alone all five if someone gets their hands on them?”

Lauren gasped, she clearly hadn’t thought about that. She was thinking about herself, Daniel found that to be a constant for his husband’s mother. He didn’t know if she had always been like that or if it was something that happened after thinking they lost Jack and then being reacquainted with a Jack that she barely recognized as her son.

Daniel shifted his gaze to Ben, the older man so much like Jack that Daniel had a hard time not falling in love with the elder O’Neill. He was a loving man who had treated Daniel like a son, had loved their children equally and had made an effort to really turn them all into a family. He could see in the other man’s face that Ben had accepted this decision, he knew they had to go somewhere their children would be safe. The tears in his eyes wrenched at Daniel’s heartstrings and he wished he could hug his surrogate father but he couldn’t step away from his children who needed him more at the moment.

Sam and Teal’c stood and their children followed though they moved around the couch to hug some of the children and Daniel and Jack. Daniel hugged each child and Sam leaned down to kiss Daniel on the cheek, “We have to go home and pack a few things. General, should we report to the mountain this afternoon to figure out our story?”

Hammond nodded, “Please do Major.”

The other family walked out of the living room and Daniel sighed. Sam and Teal’c should not have to return with them but the children were no longer protected by anonymity, people thought they were capable of something and though they all were possibly born with magic, they had never shown any affinity unlike Daniel and Jack’s children. It didn’t matter to the people who would steal children, all of them powers or no powers were all science projects worthy of a repeat kidnapping.

“I need to return to the mountain and figure out what our story is going to be, you just worry about getting your family safely back to where you need to be,” Hammond said before he stood and walked towards the door.

Daniel watched Janet who remained in her seat, “I’m staying to help, make sure the children are recovering for their ordeal and then make sure that Daniel is not working to hard.”

Jack laughed, “That’s a good plan, I need another babysitter for my husband.”

“Ha ha, so funny Jack,” Daniel as he rolled his eyes.

Akina looked over everyone in the room, “As long as what you carry is being held in your hand or has contact with you in some way, it will travel with us but do not get carried away, it will take power and concentration to get everyone to the correct moment in time. Greer and I will be here to help with this process but I will also be working closely with him and the Magis within to make sure that this trip happens flawlessly. For now though I believe you should say your farewells to those you would leave behind.”

With that, Akina and Greer started upstairs but the little boy turned back and ran over to hug Ben around the waist. Daniel sighed, trying to hold back the tears that threatened. Ben leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the dark hair before he rushed up after his mom.

“Kids, go to your rooms and pack your backpack with those things that you would like to take back to the Valley. Remember that you will have to carry it on your back,” Jack said and they started out of the room, sharing warm hugs with Ben and awkward touches with Lauren before filling out of the room. The girls went to the den and the boys followed Akina and Greer upstairs.

Jack moved to sit on the couch and Ben moved to sit on the other side of Daniel, pressing himself close in a one armed hug and pressed his forehead to the side of Daniel’s temple in a move that was so like Jack that Daniel couldn’t stop the tears from forming in his eyes. “I was so worried when you came back here covered in blood, it was like the assault all over again and if your safety and the safety of my grandchildren means that you have to go to this other place then that’s what matters.”

Daniel sobbed a little, turning a little to press his face into Ben’s neck. This was the firs person to ever come close to the parental love he’d received from his mother and father before they were taken from him. He could feel Jack’s hand pressed against his back as well. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you. You have been my father since we met. I love you Pop.” The last words were whispered into Ben’s neck, he felt horrible for not feeling the same about Lauren but there was nothing he could do about that except not lie to her. He felt the gentle pressure at the back of his head as Ben stroked his hair though he didn’t hold Daniel tight enough to put undue pressure on his wound.

“I know Daniel, I love you too son.” Ben whispered and Daniel cried all the harder though it stayed quiet enough to hide if it wasn’t for the fact that Jack knew what was happening for both of them and Lauren probably didn’t care. If Daniel weren’t here she wouldn’t have to keep explaining her intentions about Sarah. Though he knew that was a harsh sentiment but she hadn’t given him much to work with for months of them being here.

“Come on Ben, he’s the reason Jack is leaving us!” Lauren hissed and Daniel sighed while she proved his point. Every time he even thought about trying to give her another chance, the woman opened her mouth and said things like that. Ben pulled away from Daniel and he wiped the tears from his cheeks as Ben looked over at Lauren and Daniel turned to curl into Jack’s arms.

“Would you rather see him heartbroken and dying inside again instead of this? I can tell you that I don’t plan on seeing that.” Ben said to his wife.

“I just don’t think I can lose him again,” Lauren whispered, sniffing slightly.

“I would rather have them safe and out of sight then close to home and constantly in danger. Those kids are too young to have to deal with the trauma of being taken from their loving parents and home; they should not have to live in such fear. Would you be pleased to see your boys living in such a way?” Ben demanded.

Lauren looked from Ben then to Daniel and Jack and scoffed, “Just go and be done with the pain of goodbyes but do not keep expecting me to call Daniel one of my own.”

Daniel flinched at her hurtful words and watched as she walked out the front door and Ben watched her go before he turned to look at Daniel and Jack who still held each other. Daniel heaved a sigh and gave Ben a tremulous smile, “She was never going to accept me or my children, maybe Zada and Johnny but not the twins and Zale. Its not her fault.”

Ben smiled sadly and took one of Daniel’s hands gently between his weathered palms, “Daniel you are giving her a lot of credit as you always have. No matter what Lauren says, I don’t want to watch Jack’s heart die again and if you die Daniel, if those children get hurt I don’t know if Jack would survive it.”

“I wouldn’t,” Jack mumbled into Daniel’s hair as his arms tightened around his husband’s body.

“Then do what you must to protect your family.”

Daniel felt Jack nod, lips still pressed against the skin of Daniel’s temple. He knew they should get up and get everything prepared for leaving, he wanted to contact the school and download some lesson plans and books and some language training guides onto the kids’ laptops and reading pads. He was sure that Sam could find a way to recharge the technology but he would also take some books. Jack was undoubtedly going to put a limit on the books he was allowed to bring plus there were a few articles of clothing he enjoyed wearing which took extra time and energy to build in the Vannas world because they didn’t have the same kind of fabrics. There was so much he should be doing right now, going to the mountain and saying goodbye to the people that he was leaving behind, especially Tyan who had been such a close friend over the past months and an amazing brain for the archeology department and deserved to take over for Daniel.

So much to do and yet, he just stayed curled up next to Jack with Ben holding his hand. He just focused on soaking up the love he felt here and how much it meant to him and the welling of emotion he felt not only for Jack but for Ben as well. Ben healed him in a small way that Jack had been unable to not through lack of trying. Daniel had missed out of having a father and mother from the time his was nine years old and no one had ever cared enough to fill the gaping hole in his heart until he met Jack’s father. He felt the tears welling in his eyes and turned his face into Jack’s neck, listening to the crooning noises his husband made, and Daniel felt the comfort he always did when Jack cared for him without really speaking or doing anything, just held him and mumbled loving words into his ear.

He didn’t notice when Lauren stood and walked out of the room, but Ben did. He spoke to his wife momentarily then moved away from Daniel and Jack. Again Daniel didn’t really feel like moving so he just stayed tucked into Jack’s neck and he waited for the energy to get to work or the children to rejoin them, whatever came first.


	19. Time Has Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making plans to leave and Jack comforting his kid and Daniel because he's awesome at it.

Jack watched as Daniel moved around the bedroom slowly, picking up clothes then putting them back down in a new place. He was pretty sure Daniel just didn’t want to stop and think about the life they were flying back to, leaving behind this world on purpose this time. They already knew this was the right choice but Daniel hated the idea of leaving behind Janet, Hammond and Jack’s father especially. Right now, Ben was helping the children pack their little backpacks better so the zippers would close which made Jack smile. He hated the idea as well but Daniel and the kids’ safety was more important than a few close friends even though it would be nice to try and have it all, it was impossible and they were lucky that the O’Neill-Jackson clan were able to stay together no matter what time they were in.

“Danny, do you wanna talk or shout or cry?” Jack whispered the words though he didn’t move off the bed.

Daniel just shook his head and said nothing.

“Jack?” Janet called from the door and Jack watched Daniel who was ignoring both of them before he nodded and followed Janet out of the room and towards the top of the stairs.

“What’s up?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I just got done with the last check up for the children, they don’t seem to have any leftover trauma from the kidnapping. I think its possible that Claire may have been playing with her new powers because Johnny and Zada don’t even have bruises or cuts anymore.”

Jack groaned at that as he scrubbed a hand over his head, “It’s a good thing we are going home to a magical world, our children were not created to be normal and they don’t know how to pretend either.”

Janet chuckled at that, “You might be right about that.”

“What about mental trauma from being taken and all that? Any of the children acting differently with you then what you’ve seen in the past?”

“I think Johnny is the only one I would really be concerned about and watch out for Zale for long term effects from being so badly drugged. Claire and JC weren’t really heavily drugged or hurt in any way, they seem to feel like they slept through most of it till Daddy and Papa came to the rescue. And Zada is putting on a brave face but I think she feels guilty about Zale and Johnny getting hurt. I know you know this Jack but no matter how mature and smart they are, they are still children and this might be something you will have to deal with for an indeterminate amount of time.”

“So I remember a lot of my training for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, we will work with them when we get resettled at home. Thank you Janet for all that you’ve done for us.”

Janet pressed a hand to Jack’s shoulder and squeezed gently, “I would do anything for you guys and your children. Promise me one thing though?”

“Sure,” he responded.

“Take care of Daniel, he’s been through more than any of us have ever really known and he deserves to be safe.”

Jack smiled, “I would do anything to get him back there where he was safe and loved and protected by a whole group of mother hens.”

Janet nodded, “Then take them home Jack, you owe it to yourself as well.”

Jack nodded and he watched as the woman walked back downstairs, figuring that she wasn’t leaving yet because she wouldn’t have done so without saying goodbye to everyone. He turned back and walked towards the bedroom where Daniel was still quietly walking around the room, as if a boat without a rudder. Jack couldn’t help the need he felt when he walked up behind Daniel and wrapped gentle hands around his waist and pulling Daniel close to his chest. He tilted in to press his lips to Daniel’s throat who moaned into the contact.

“I want to go home Jack, I really do,” he whispered, intertwining their fingers together at his waist.

“But?” Jack prompted.

“I guess leaving this place, where we had our childhoods and adulthood and training, and Ben—it’s hard to let go of that. I feel like we’re running away. Like we are cowards for doing it this way. Lauren has a solid point, the kids and I are taking you from your family here.”

Jack scoffed, “You are my family Daniel, you have to know that. Those kids that we have raised for the past ten years are my family. You and they need me more than my mother and father and brothers do right now.”

With that Daniel pressed his head back to rest on Jack’s shoulder.

“And you are the bravest man I know Daniel Jackson, we are making this choice for the safety of our beautiful children and that is the most courageous choice we can possibly make.”

“You can’t tell me that the assault and the attack at the mountain had nothing to do with your decision,” Jack could hear the self-deprecating laugh coming from Daniel.

Jack kissed the side of Daniel’s head, “I won’t lie to you Daniel, I need you to be safe. I want you to be okay and the kids to be okay and for us all to be together. That’s how I get to be happy and I know you want me to be happy right?” Jack cajoled, causing Daniel to chuckle and laugh as Jack nuzzled into Daniel’s sensitive neck.

“We get to say goodbye this time, we don’t have to leave them not knowing,” Daniel whispered.

“That’s right Danny and we get to take our children back to a world where they are just like everyone else and accepted without judgment.”

Daniel twisted in Jack’s arms and pressed his lips to Jack’s mouth. It took a minute for the retired General to return the caress but Daniel apparently wasn’t going to let Jack accost him at the moment. The archeologist pulled back from the embrace and started moving quickly from dresser to the closet and then to the desk. He quickly threw together a bag of essentials that had nothing to do with books then he grabbed a large, a ridiculously large suitcase, from Jack’s closet and started shoving all sorts of books and studying materials into it. Jack shook his head and left Daniel to his dream bag, he didn’t know what they were going to be able to take back with them but Daniel would look at the overflowing large suitcase and he might whittle it down to a more manageable load or Akina might have to put her foot down, either way Daniel was out of his fugue state and that’s all Jack really cared about right now.

He walked out and headed downstairs, his bag was already packed and Jack knew that the representative from the school was going to be coming to drop off some school materials. He walked into the kitchen and started making some food for the children and himself. It had been a rough morning and many of them skipped breakfast in the rush to get Daniel home and start the packing process. It was sort of weird to think about packing this time around. When they first ended up in the Vannas time, they were forced there with the packs on their backs, everything they owned was earned and made in the Vannas world and now they had the opportunity to return with things and Jack figured in the end they were useless but books were a comfort to Daniel and trinkets were special sometimes and they should be kept. There were a few small gifts that his father gave the children and they were undoubtedly in each of the packs. For now though Jack refocused on the task at hand.

Jack was slapping some sandwiches together when the doorbell rang so he wiped his hands then walked out and hollered out, “Lunch is in the kitchen!” though he didn’t know for sure where all the kids were, before he walked over and opened the door to find a messenger so Jack signed for the package which was pretty large. Jack brought it inside and put it down. He tugged out his pocketknife and opened the flaps to find five thin boxes that held e-readers with plug ins. He opened one of them and turned it on to find it held all the lesson plans for one of the kids. Daniel would be pleased that they were here and compact as well. The batteries would keep them going for a while then Akina or Sam would have to find another way to power the devices in a world where technology was always a little wonky. He put the reader back in the box then frowned and pulled the five readers out to find some text books underneath. He shrugged and left it for Daniel, his genius husband was the one who took their children’ education seriously and Jack was smart enough to let the man have it.

He lifted the box and took it back upstairs and placed it on the bed and Daniel frowned at him, “What’s that?”

“The school stuff, readers and a few books.”

Daniel’s face lit up in that way that he had when he was given something new to look at and he immediately put the book his was holding into the overflowing suitcase full of books to pick up one of the readers and he started plugging them into any available outlet. Jack watched his beloved zip around the room before he reached out and grabbed Daniel and pulled him to a gentle stop. “What?”

Jack smiled and pulled him close very slowly, he felt as Daniel’s hands slipped around his waist as he smiled up at the older man, “I love you Danny, I hope you know that.”

“How could I not Colonel Jack? You give me everything I could ever ask for.”

Jack chuckled lightly, “You never ask for anything Danny.”

“And yet you figure it out, I love you Jack.”

With that Jack leaned down and kissed Daniel again, after ten plus years it seemed like his ability to keep his hands off of Daniel had never gotten any better. He always wanted to hold Daniel and the love was deeper than it had been a year before and even five years before because they were a couple and they were parents together but since coming back to their time they had gone through much more scrutiny and judgment. Jack let all those feelings and love seep into his kiss and tried to share that with Daniel. The kiss went on for a while then Daniel pulled away and rubbed a hand down Jack’s chest. “As much as I would like to put an end to our dry spell, I really need to get everything packed and then I need to head to the mountain. I want to make sure to get Tyan prepared to take over for me and I have a list of people that Hammond can hire to replace me.”

“You had time to look into replacements?” Jack questioned as he let go of Daniel slowly, while his hands slipped up and down Daniel’s back, then his sides then down to grip his fingers, putting off the removal of his spouse from Jack’s personal space for as long as possible.

Daniel shook his head, eyes closed as he enjoyed the touch of Jack’s hands. “No, I was getting ready to hire in some more help and this way I can make sure that what I’m leaving behind is going to be the best working crew for Hammond, who knows what they might be dealing with in the future.”

Jack nodded, “Gotcha.”

With a final pat to Jack’s chest, his silver wedding band glinting in the bedroom light, Daniel turned back. Jack moved to grab his shoulder pack and carried it downstairs then he walked over to the den and grabbed JC and Claire’s little bags and placed it next to his. Since no answer had come about the food he figured the kids were out back with his dad and Akina. He walked through the kitchen and peeked out the door to find them running around happily though he could see the sadness in Zada. Zale was sitting on the porch alone and Johnny was just wandering around with Greer’s hand gripped in his. Jack wondered about those two sometimes but they were young and so he wouldn’t worry about it till they were much older. Akina noticed his presence and walked over. She pressed a gentle hand into his shoulder, “How is it going?”

“Daniel is trying to bring every book in the house with us.”

Akina smiled, “I would worry if he did not. I shall see if I can rein him in.”

“Good luck with that,” Jack muttered and watched as Akina walked back inside the house. Jack stepped out into the warmth of the porch and moved to sit down next to Zale, who flinched as he moved close. Jack sighed, hating to see his eldest son so out of sync. Even dealing with his split personality, for lack of a better term, Zale had always been such a sweet and good boy. He’d always been the leader along with Zada of course. Jack reached and pressed a hand down on Zale’s shoulder and pulled his son close, “How are you doing Z-Man?”

Zale shrugged, “I still feel all muddled Papa, Xylander is quiet and it’s making me nervous.”

Jack nudge him and when Zale looked at him, the father gestured to his son and Zale immediately climbed into Jack’s lap. He was still left wondering how Zale felt because despite the skin on skin contact, Zale wasn’t transmitting his feelings like he’d been doing much of his life. Jack tightened his hold and pressed gentle kisses to Zale’s forehead while his fingers rubbed through Zale’s hair. “Are you glad that we are going home?” Jack asked instead of trying to force the issue.

Zale nodded, dislodged Jack’s hand and lips for a moment before he settled again. “I don’t like it here, people don’t like us for being different and I hate when Daddy gets hurt because of something like being in love with you.”

It was Jack’s turn to nod, “You have friends there, and we have people capable of helping you with Xylander. When we get back, we will talk to some of your teachers about upping your magical training because I don’t want you hurting yourself because you are trying beyond your abilities.”

Zale nodded again and looked up at his Papa, “You would allow us to use our magic more?”

“I will do what I must so you know what your capable of and how to keep yourself and your siblings safe if we can’t be there. I need you to be safer than you have been. I remember what it was like when you pulled the debris off of Daddy Daniel, you hurt yourself because it was too heavy.”

Zale shrugged, “That was nothing Papa. I’m going to be okay, I just need to go home and not be here.”

Jack forced down the tears that were threatening, especially when Zale rubbed his hand affectionately up and down Jack’s arm. There was no reason for his traumatized little boy should be reassuring him. Jack just stayed there on the porch hugging his son and waited while Zale just settled into him. That is until he realized that he passed the sandwiches in the kitchen.

He chuckled and spoke gently, “You hungry Zale?”

Zale nodded mutely.

Jack tugged Zale up to stand and he heaved himself off the ground and called out to the kids, “Come on and eat guys.”

With some groans the children rushed for the door and Jack handed out sandwiches and got some juice for them. Then he grabbed some for Daniel and walked upstairs and pulled Daniel away from the packing once more. It looked like Akina had succeeded in getting Daniel to keep the books and learning materials to the one gigantic suitcase, which Jack and Daniel pulled downstairs and placed next to Jack’s bag as well as the kids. Daniel ate quickly, not even starting a conversation with the kids before he passed around kisses and hugs and left to go to the mountain and finish up with a few things there, leaving Jack and Ben with the children and Akina walked down the street towards Teal’c and Sam’s home. Everyone was leaving from Jack and Daniel’s house because they had more stuff and children plus Zada had the ability to wrap them all in one of her shields which would give them the better chance of staying together and arriving where they were supposed to.

They were slotted to leave the next day and Jack moved to grab the phone and started making phone calls. He wouldn’t need the house or the money he had saved up in his account. He called the bank and updated his will, still leaving the house to Sarah. Jack knew that Daniel had packed up some family pictures and Jack made sure to give some to Janet, Hammond and his parents, especially the ones from the wedding. They were all so important to him and the children and this was the only way him and Daniel could leave a little piece of them with those friends.

Finally he called the one who he didn’t really want to talk to and Sarah answered on the second ring, “Hello.”

“Sarah, its Jack.”

“Hey Jack,” her voice was forced with a toothy smile; Jack could hear it even though he couldn’t see it.

“I just wanted you to know that you can do whatever you want with the house. After the kidnapping, we are leaving before the children get hurt. I’m sorry for everything that you went through with us. You and my parents are splitting what’s in my account and my retirement. I know it’s not what you wanted but it’s all I have.”

“I will be here for your mother,” Sarah said and Jack sighed as he heard the bitterness in her tone. “Thank you for the house and I hope you get what you’re looking for wherever you end up.”

Without another word, Sarah hung up and Jack sighed. He clicked off the phone and put it down and stood to walk back to the kitchen just as everyone was finishing up. The kids didn’t waste any time before they stumbled out the back door once more. He wondered if it was a kid thing or the fact that they grew up in a world where there was no such thing as television but their children all preferred to be outside, maybe even reading in in the sun instead of playing but outside all the same.

Jack turned back and worked through the dishes that were stacked in the sink from the partial breakfast and lunch, made no sense to leave behind a mess someone else would have to clean up. After his dad was through eating he also rejoined the children and Jack was eternally grateful that Ben was here because Jack didn’t think he could have done everything needed with no one to help with the children especially so close to the kidnapping. All of the kids needed distraction while Daniel and Jack put their affairs in order and that took constant attention that Jack couldn’t give them at the moment. He didn’t like it but they had to do the best they could to make the disappearance a little easier on those they were leaving behind this time.

As his hands were soaped up in the process of loading the last of the dishes to rinse and dry he thought about Johnny, who was still silent and withdrawn but luckily hadn’t woken with nightmares the night before but Jack was sure they would hit him as some point.

All Jack and Daniel could do was be there with them when the walls fell and they broke down then they would help build them back up again. For now the house was quiet and he walked back outside where the children were playing after lunch. He would be glad when Daniel was home and they were prepared to get back to their home in the Valley.


	20. Let It Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Daniel let go of their present to plan for the future.

**  
**

Daniel pulled up in the jeep at the mountain and walked inside, moving quickly through the hallways to his office, there is a pile of paperwork that he had to deliver to the right people that he’d been working through while he was home and then in the hospital and he did that quickly then he spoke to Tyan about taking over the department which led to some tears on both sides since they’d known each other for a long time. Then he took his stack of job applications and resumes with him to General Hammond’s office and knocked gently.

“Come on in Doctor Jackson and sit down,” Hammond said and Daniel did so, taking one of the chairs in front of the General’s desk.

“I brought you my five top picks, Tyan is pleased to take the department but there are some in here that you are going to need if I’m not here.”

“Thank you so much for the information Daniel, I trust your judgment about this.”

Daniel nodded in response to the compliment and faltered as he watched the older man in front of him. General George Hammond may not have been the General that brought him into the program but he was the General that always did what he could for Daniel and the teams. Hammond had always taken care of all of his people as well as the civilians like Daniel. There were so many in the military that never had a nice thing to say about the outside contractors but Hammond always treated Daniel like one of his own.

So it was a struggle to speak without his voice cracking, “Sir, I find myself unable to find the words to share my gratitude for all you have done for me before the disappearance and all you did for my family when we returned. Thank you just seems not enough.”

Hammond smiled, leaning back in his chair, “Daniel, you have given so much to this program since the very beginning that it was my pleasure to be service to you.” Daniel nodded, sniffling at the unwanted tears trying to slip from his eye when Hammond spoke again, “Have you called the schools and pulled the kids?”

Daniel nodded, “Jack was planning on being on the phone today taking care of all that for me.”

“Since we know you aren’t coming back, you will be considered killed in action and so your belongings would go to who?”

“I already updated my will so my artifacts and books will come to the SGC and a few museums where they belong and the money is going to Jack’s family since I don’t have biological ties to this world.”

Hammond nodded, “You know that we have possession of most of the materials that belong to you right?”

Daniel smiled, “I have several volumes that I searched for during my life and were saved from when we disappeared before and this time I am giving them to Tyan and the department for good. I am taking a few with me; the ones that were special to me because of my parents and the content but the rest will come here to the SGC.”

“Thank you so much for that Daniel. Is there anything else before you leave? When are you leaving?”

“We are leaving sometime tomorrow.”

Hammond sighed, “Its better that way with the threat against the children. I think though that it would be better for all of us if you left from here so killed in action actually makes sense.”

“I will talk to Jack and the others, it would also give us one final chance to say goodbye. Maybe we can come tonight or tomorrow morning after breakfast.”

“Just call and let me know, especially what to do with the cars.”

“Again, everything goes to Jack’s parents.”

Daniel stood when the older man did and shook General Hammond’s hand then leaned in to give the man a quick hug before he walked back out of the mountain. If they were going to head into the mountain with all the kids and their stuff then they would need to get everything back there which would take some time. The drive was quiet, with some music playing in the background and when he got home he opened the door and found Jack sitting on the couch, leaning back with his fingers rubbing into his eyes. Daniel walked over, dropping his bag to the floor and sitting down next to him. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Jack’s stubbly cheek.

Jack smiled under Daniel’s lips, “You’re back.”

It did not escape Daniel’s notice that Jack did not call it home. “Hammond thinks we should disappear from the base since we are going to be considered KIA.”

“How can I be KIA, I’m retired?” Jack asked.

Daniel shrugged, “Leave that to the SGC, they are fantastic liars.”

“Not liars, story spinners,” Jack responded. Daniel chuckled and leaned forward and kissed Jack again. It had been too long since they were alone together without a scrap of clothing to separate them and sadly Daniel didn’t think they were going to get to end that any time soon.

He refocused on the conversation at hand instead so he wouldn’t have to adjust his jeans, “Should we pack up everything, say goodbye tonight and head to the mountain? It would be much easier to perpetuate whatever cover story they got going that way.”

Jack nodded, “Yeah, Pop is already here and I’ll call mom and see if she wanted to say goodbye to the kids. Then I will call Sam and Teal’c, let them know what’s going on.”

Daniel nodded then moved to slip his leg across Jack’s lap. The retired General jerked at the instant contact from hip to chest. “Where are the kids?” Daniel asked when those dark brown eyes locked on his face.

“Outside with Pop.”

Daniel smiled and pressed a kiss to Jack’s cheek then his nose before slipping his lips up and over his forehead. “Are you okay Jack?” he asked, as he continued to nuzzle his nose against Jack’s skin, taking in deep breaths of Jack’s aftershave and that deep soul sizzling Jack musk that always had the power to rev Daniel’s engine.

Jack heaved a sigh, “I know we are making the right choice but I am leaving part of my family for the sake of the other. It doesn’t stop the regret that it has to be this way, they will be safe here and you and the kids and I will be safe in the Valley with Akina and her people.”

Daniel pressed his lips into Jack’s mouth gently, pulling a deep moan from his husband even as Jack’s lips fell open and Daniel caressed the inside of Jack’s warm mouth. Jack’s hands pressed into Daniel’s thighs, holding him close while Daniel’s hands pressed into Jack’s cheek and neck. When he pulled away it was to the pleasant groan of Jack, “You are the most amazing husband and father ever. We’re going to be okay as long as we’re together remember?”

Jack nodded and moved to press his lips back into Daniel’s mouth then he slapped Daniel’s legs gently and Daniel moved off of Jack’s lap and watched the older man move towards the phone and started making phone calls. Daniel heaved himself off of the couch and started towards the kitchen, gripping Jack’s free hand as he passed him. He stopped in the kitchen and realized that Jack must have started some pot roast and potatoes for dinner and he smiled, Jack was the most domesticated retired General and it was strangely fitting though Daniel enjoyed his equal opportunities to spend time in the kitchen or teaching the children language and so on. He continued on to the back yard where Ben was playing catch with all the kids, they were racing around him as if there were bases and some sort of game that wasn’t following any rules Daniel knew about. He was going to miss Ben so much more than anything else in this time, not his job and not his past filled with sadness and death but he would miss the man who he could call father.

He also knew that the safest Ben would ever be is separated from the children, separated from Daniel and even Jack. He shook off the sadness again; thankfully he’d had a long life of saying goodbye to people over and over again. This is just the latest in a long line.

“Hey guys, get your stuff ready there has been a change in plans,” Daniel called out and all the kids turned and ran up to the house without even the barest hint of whining. Daniel sighed sadly, not to long ago they would have complained about walking away from a game with their grandfather but after the kidnapping, it seemed like all of them were having a hard time being who they once were completely. Daniel was hoping that getting back to the Valley would help get them through whatever was going on inside their minds. It was something Daniel had an intimate knowledge of, getting through a trauma and the goodbyes they were about to say. Daniel and Jack would get them through and they would do everything to make sure each of their children retained what made them uniquely them.

Ben walked up as well, “You are going tonight aren’t you?”

Daniel nodded but said nothing, so Ben gripped his arm gently as he walked past. Daniel found himself blurting words before he really thought them through, “You know I am going to miss you more than anyone I have ever said goodbye to in my life.”

Ben paused, “I know son, I am going to miss you too.”

Daniel pulled the older man close for a hug, thinking to himself that a thousand hugs and a thousand days would not prepare him for saying goodbye to this man. He could feel Ben’s hand gripping the back of Daniel’s neck for a moment before they separated and walked back inside. Jack was just hanging up the phone and leaning down to check the cooking food. Daniel noticed Akina standing off to the side of the kitchen and none of the children were around.

“Where are the kids?” Daniel asked.

“Went to go wash up,” Jack replied, “Sam and Teal’c are getting the children ready and everyone is coming over here to eat some dinner and say their goodbyes before we head to the mountain.”

Daniel nodded, “I gotta go recheck my suitcase.” With that he walked past Akina, brushing past her as Ben asked after Daniel, wondering if he was going to be okay with all this. Daniel ignored the response, ignored everything but the need to prepare one last time. Being in the same room with Ben was pushing his control to the brink and there was nothing he could do to catch his breath. Daniel felt like he was suffocating on sadness and loss they would all have to live with, the fact that a slice of their children’s innocence had been stolen from them and that Daniel would leave behind the only father he’d had in most of his life and Jack was truly picking one part of his family over the other.

“Daniel, you have family and loved ones in the Valley as well,” Akina murmured and he turned to see that the young and powerful Queen had followed him up the stairs.

“You came here for your son, Akina you don’t have to make up stories,” he knew it sounded self-deprecating but he knew that Greer was why Akina came here and most of the Vannas didn’t understand Daniel and the rest of SG-1, felt for much of the time that they were merely humoring Akina for the sake of the team. When they had magical children it was much easier for people to accept them but it wasn’t like they were Akina’s people.

Akina scoffed at his words, “Who ever said I was only here for Greer? I came back for my friends and though I was prepared to leave you here if you were doing well, I have only seen the suffering in your eyes Daniel not to mention your children were kidnapped and you were injured.”

“It’s not like that all the time,” Daniel rebuffed though even to his own ears it sounded like a lie.

“How often have you been questioned about the veracity of your love for Jack?”

Daniel shrugged, “Too many to count.”

“Including being assaulted by someone,” Akina responded and Daniel glared at her.

“How do you know that?” Daniel demanded.

“I can sense the change and the struggle and you know what Zara is like when there is a puzzle involved, I also questioned your beloved husband about it. Not only were you assaulted by one of Jack’s brothers but also you were attacked on base where you have always believed you were safe. Come home with me Daniel and accept the place is going to be better for all of you, not just for your children. It will never come without complications and magic but it does come with a free helping of acceptance and love from all around you.”

“Cheap shot, milady,” Daniel responded with a snarky bow.

Akina as usual snickered, not taking offense but then they had been friends for more than nine years and if anyone was going to be offensive it was Jack and Akina had always loved Jack’s quirky sense of humor and lack of filter so Daniel wasn’t surprised by the giggle or the shrugging words, “I will do what I have to because I have been told in no uncertain terms that if you and your children do not go back then my son will not return home either.”

Daniel shook his head and rolled his eyes in disbelief, “Then take him anyway Akina, he’s your son.”

Akina sidled up close and wrapped an arm around Daniel’s shoulder, “I do not know how to share this news with you but I have found a tight bond growing between Johnny and Greer, one born of close friendship and possibly could become more in time.”

Daniel frowned, “Are you serious?”

“I would never jest about the true love shared among any of my people but especially when it comes to the future happiness of my first born son. Even if nothing were to happen between them in the coming years, Greer and Johnny are very close and I would nurture such a friendship, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course and I don’t care if they end up together as long as Greer understands that age of consent for humans is a little different than age of consent for Vannas. My baby boy is not going to be married off at eighteen.”

“They would be married off to one another at sixteen according to some Vannas family choices including me,” Akina responded.

Daniel shrugged off her arm and pointed a finger at Akina in mock seriousness, “No!”

Akina laughed, “You shall see all those who have missed your presence in the Valley as soon as we have returned. Just think about Adrian and DK as well as their children not to mention your students.”

Daniel smiled, wiping the annoyance off his face when he realizes he’s been tricked into some sort of passionate response instead of just isolating himself. He leaned forward and kissed Akina on the cheek gently and pulled back, “Thanks.”

“Stop that!” Jack called from the kitchen then snickered, joined by Akina’s laughter and Daniel shook his head. The faux jealousy between Akina and Jack had gone back for years as well, it had been born of real emotions once upon a time but now it was like any other person giving Daniel a quick peck on the cheek, the touches meant nothing when pressed up against how Daniel felt for Jack.

“We’re going home then,” Daniel said and gave Akina a resolute nod.

She grinned, “And you shall be welcomed with open arms.”

With that they all set out to pack up the cars so they wouldn’t be working after dinner when they were trying to say final goodbyes and eating dinner. Even though parts of him were still filled with sadness, Daniel knew that they were making the right choice and there was some comfort in that.


	21. One Final Meal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, I hate the idea of walking away from this story and I would love to continue but I am drawing a blank on possible story ideas. Drop me a plot bunny or two, or five!! I would love to see what kinds of things you would be interested in seeing them go through.

It was weird to think this would be the last time Jack served food from the oven and got juice and milk from the refrigerator in this house. The afternoon had passed quickly and now they were spread around in the living room while the kids all ate at the dining table. Daniel was sitting next to him on the couch and they both had plates on their laps. Sam and Teal’c were splitting their focus between the conversation and the children in the kitchen. Jack could hear his kids speaking in Latin, working on their fluidity. Daniel was talking to Ben who was sitting next to him and Lauren was talking to Sam. Akina, Lust and Desire were also eating spread around the room. The quiet conversation was a nice back drop to this final day here in this time. Now that they had accepted that they were leaving and they were doing it for all the right reasons, Daniel seemed to let the tension leech from his body and shoulders. With his young spouse a little more at ease, Jack found himself happy to make this choice.

Jack stood and took Daniel’s empty plate from him. He walked into the kitchen and started a sink of soapy water and started talking plates and cups for each other the kids and grown ups as they finished. He slowly cleaned the dishes, just letting time float by until his father spoke up from the entry of the kitchen, “Stop stalling Jackie.”

He smiled as he looked over to Ben, “It’s hard sometimes to truly let go. I haven’t given up my past in a lot of ways but now it’s going to be so permanent.” He slipped the last dish into the drying rack and drained the sink before he turned towards his dad.

“Its going to be just a permanent ten minutes from now and those women are sword fighting, freaking out your mother.”

Jack snorted then walked around his dad to see the man was not exaggerating. Akina and the twins were indeed fighting using short swords in close contact fighting. Jack laughed and watched as Lauren frowned at them, moving as far away from them as possible. Daniel was enjoying the show, clapping when anyone got a good shot in but Jack turned back to his dad once more.

“I’m gonna miss you so much Pop but you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right, now get your kids into those cars and get out of here.”

Jack smiled and pulled his dad into a tight hug before he walked back to the living and called out, “Its time.”

He watched as all the kids walked in and started giving hugs to Lauren and Ben, though they were still awkward with his mother they all did it anyway. The hugs and kisses they shared with Ben were enthusiastic and bittersweet as well. Then Jack walked the kids out and loaded them into the Jeep and the truck. Akina and the twins were planning to ride in the van with Sam and her family since there was room for them. Then he returned and walked over to Lauren and gave her a hug, kissing her on the cheek gently. “Goodbye Mama, I love you.”

Her hands squeezed at his back and she sobbed into his shoulder, “I love you Johnny, I’m sorry.”

“I know Mama. I’m sorry too.” She nodded and he tugged her away so he could look into her dark watery gaze, “Just so we’re clear, I am not sorry for loving my husband or protecting my family. I am sorry that we fought so much over this and I’m sorry you felt you had to choose between loyalty to me or loyalty to Sarah.”

“I know Johnny, please just go.”

He nodded and turned to see Daniel hugging Ben again before they turned and walked out of the house Jack gripping Daniel’s hand in comfort. As they climbed into the vehicles and they started towards the mountain in a silly looking train of vehicles. Jack was following the van that Sam was driving and the Jeep was just behind Jack’s truck. He looked over at Zale and Zada where were silently watching the passing scenery outside the window. Zale was against the door, sitting in his car seat and Zada was in the middle with her chin tucked into Zale’s shoulder.

“You guys ready to go home?” he asked in forced enthusiasm.

“Yes,” the chorused quietly.

“You gonna miss this place at all?” Jack asked with a chuckle.

They both turned to give him a look that clearly said, ‘Hells no.’ Jack forced down the snort of laughter he had stuck in his throat. Zada sighed a little and turned to look at Jack in profile while he snuck glances towards her. “We are going to miss Grandpapa and Aunt Janet and Cassie but this world will never be safe for us and people hate Daddy for something like loving you, I do not understand this world.”

Jack rubbed a gentle hand through her dark wavy tresses and smiled as he watched the road ahead of them, “I know baby. I don’t understand it either sometimes.”

“We never said anything but the things that your mother used to think about Daddy and us were unkind and not loving. I do not understand how she is like that when you have always been so different with us and Daddy.”

Jack thought about his son’s quiet words, “She wasn’t like that before Charlie’s death and before when I was married to Sarah. I don’t know when things changed for her but she is not the same loving mother I grew up with and there is nothing I can do to change her mind. You know that Daddy and I, plus countless others love you more than we can ever articulate but sometimes people won’t like you and that doesn’t have to make a difference to you.”

He shifted his gaze over to see them nod a little and then he could see the mountain in the distance, he heaved a sigh of relief. They were so close to the haven they left behind. He knew what Akina said to Daniel and the things she’d said to them in the past. The future was not without strange circumstances and magic much to Jack’s displeasure but that’s where they belonged now.

They got in through the gates at the mountain and everyone grabbed backpacks and Jack lugged Daniel’s suitcase, which seemed to be carrying their entire library inside. Jack grunted at the weight as he got it through the doors and headed towards the elevator with the children and adults all following close behind. They were planning a quick goodbye in the gate room then the blast doors would close and in the enclosed room they would all disappear like they arrived seven months before.

There were several airmen who came to take their suitcases and bags down to the gate room and they headed to the conference room where General Hammond was standing with Janet, Tyan and a few of the heads who were close to the members of SG-1, all holding flutes of something sparkling. Jack smiled as he walked into the room.

“Jack, Daniel, Sam and Teal’c; I know it has been a short time in comparison to the years you spent in your other home but it has been great to see you and meet your children. I know you all have to leave and we will miss you but this has given us the opportunity to know you are going to be fine. Here’s to the one true SG-1!”

A cheer rent the air and Hammond let it continue for a moment before he waved his hand to quiet the people.

“From this day forward, no one will ever use the SG-1 designation ever again,” Hammond said and Jack stared in shock, as a picture was unveiled across from the flags, it was of the four of them at Jack and Daniel’s wedding. They were standing close to each other, smiling into the camera and dressed in their wedding finery. Jack and Sam were attempting to hold their serious expressions but the twitch of happiness was there under the austereness of taking a picture in their Class A’s. Jack smiled when he looked over at Daniel who was wiping a tear from his cheek. Sam and Teal’c were hugging each other and Sam had a hand pressed to her mouth trying to keep the gasp and sob quiet.

“George, surely that’s a little much isn’t it? What about Mitchell’s team?” Jack asked, looking over to the grinning Colonel who was standing really close to Vala.

“General, we are glad to do a little jumbling around so SG-1 will always be yours,” Cameron responded with his friendly southern twang.

Jack clapped to the men and women around the room and Daniel followed quickly then Sam and Teal’c added their enthusiastic clapping as well. Then as it died down again they mingled for a few minutes hugging people and saying their goodbyes. Jack said goodbye to Hammond, Janet, Cameron and Vala as well as a few who’d been around since the inception of the program and were still there now. He mostly watched the kids talking to their fans in the infirmary and Daniel talking to Tyan and the others from his department. About an hour passed before Hammond called a halt to the get together. Final hugs were given.

Janet came over and wrapped her arms around his shoulder, “I love you guys so much and please just be safe.”

Jack nodded into her shoulder, “I will and right backatcha Doc, you were the first to really accept our children no questions asked and that is not something easily forgotten. Thank you for everything you did for us and what you continue to do here. Keep them in line, will ya?”

Janet pulled away with a grin, “Of course.”

With that she walked over to Sam and the others and before to long passed they were all walking down to the gate room and once all seven adults and nine kids were passed the doors, the blast doors started to drop and he looked up to wave at Hammond and their SGC family until they could no longer be seen. Then they all laid their hands on each of the bags and packs they were taking. Jack took Zale and Zada’s hands in his. Daniel reached out and picked Johnny up and cuddled him close. Janet reached out and took Daniel’s free hand and Claire took Janet’s other hand. Lust, Desire and Akina spread out and touched someone as Sam and Teal’c were reach out to touch their children and each other. Then Zada started to glow, her skin lighting up from under the surface and a shimmer moved to surround them all.

Akina smiled, “Good job Zada, I didn’t think I could concentrate on a shield as well as work out the time travel. This shall make things much smoother.”

Zada smiled but she had that unfocused look that meant she was concentrating on the task at hand. Jack squeezed her hand slightly in support. And then Akina touched someone, Daniel’s shoulder and she had Greer gripped in her arms and there was the dip in his stomach that came right before the grey and dark room disappeared from sight only to be quickly replaced with the interior of the throne room in the Vannas castle.

It was home.


	22. Home Magical Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting home safely and a little love at the end since for some reason there hasn't been any with all the drama.

Daniel looked around the room at the people all crowded into the well lit throne room and noticed the platters of food and turned to look at Akina. “What’s all this?”

“I told my people to prepare for your arrival when Greer and I gave this a dry run. Everyone is here to welcome you home.”

Daniel looked around again and smiled, seeing his students and Jack’s students as well. The room was filled to capacity and they were all waiting with bated breath for Akina to say something. Possibly to let them know they were welcome to be excited and screaming and then hugging the arrivals.

“Everyone look who’s home!” Akina shouted.

The cheer was almost overwhelming in the level of sound, Daniel flinched a little and Johnny looked at him, “I’m okay baby. You’re home.”

Johnny nodded and wiggled to be let down. Daniel did but retained his hold on Johnny’s little hand. The sea of people parted and there was Adrian with his short black hair and his wife, DK, walking next to him. They were each holding a child, Daniella in DK’s arms and Neil in Adrian’s gentle grip. They walked straight to Daniel and Jack and each hugged them. Daniel curled his free arm around Adrian and smiled into the man’s shoulder, “Adrian how are you?”

“Glad you’re home Daniel,” Adrian said and pulled back with a grin.

Adrian released Daniel and moved to hug Jack as well. The children all took their turns to say hello to their adopted uncle. Daniel allowed them to mingle and talk to some of their friends for about an hour before he tugged on Jack’s wrist, “The kids are tired, lets get the children home in bed.”

Jack nodded and he turned and looked around with a confused look, “Where did our bags go?” he asked.

“I took the liberty of transporting them to your house,” Akina said as she walked up to them. She pressed a hand to Daniel’s wrist, “Take your children and put them to bed. Tomorrow we shall get the children learning schedules as well as your teaching schedule back in order.”

Daniel nodded and he and Jack wandered around, collecting children and saying goodnight to their friends and associates before walking out of the castle. Johnny was dragging his feet and the twins were wavering as they walked. Zada and Zale were still pretty alert but they were quiet all the same. The walk was about fifteen minutes as usual, they walked up to the porch of their home and noticed a few differences, it seemed like the Vannas had done some changing to the house which made Daniel smile, they really had wanted the team and their family to return that was clear from the welcome they received in the throne room as well as this. When Jack opened the door he realized why it was bigger, Daniel’s office was the same as was the kitchen and dining room as well as the living room but there was an extension towards the back where a room had been added which problem meant the same for upstairs. All the children would have their own rooms for the first time in their short lives. Daniel made all the kids sit down after they each took turns in the bathrooms, which there was another one of those as well, to change into their pajamas while Daniel and Jack looked through each of the bedrooms. The master bedroom was now downstairs and there was a master bath as well and there were five rooms, each with one child’s belongings in each. They called each child upstairs to see their rooms and deal with the fact that they would be separated.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want, this is the first night back,” Daniel told Janet and Claire who were looking at the two bedrooms across from each other. They were holding tightly to one another and they nodded and slipped into one of the bedrooms. Jack and Daniel followed to give them hugs and kisses goodnight before they looked in on Johnny who was huddled close to Zale on the older boy’s bed. Daniel shared goodnight kisses with them as well before he found Zada curled up in her own bed.

He sat down next to her and rubbed a gentle hand down the side of her face, “You could go sleep in Janet and Claire’s room.”

She shook her head, “I just want to sleep and get back to living in this world and being together but I don’t want to be surrounded by my siblings right now.”

Daniel frowned. None of their children had ever wanted separation but he didn’t want to assume this was because of what happened. All of the children, whether they wanted it or now, deserved alone time. Daniel would have to talk to Jack about getting each of them some isolation if they needed it. The fallout from the kidnapping was not going to be over quickly, same as it was for Daniel after the attack.

“I love you beautiful girl,” he whispered as he leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek.

She smiled at him, “I love you too Daddy, I am glad we are home again.”

“Me too baby, good night.”

“Night.”

“Papa will be in to say goodnight in a minute.”

She nodded and he walked out of the room to head downstairs, it was odd that the master bedroom was separated from all the children but they would find a way to make it work and adjust. It was the largest room now and the room where they were sleeping before had been shifted and redesigned so most of the rooms upstairs were comfortably the same dimensions which was nice, it made the kids equal instead of one being favored over another.

Daniel walked downstairs and into their new bedroom, finding the bed frame that Jack had built as a wedding gift for him all those years ago and the matrass looked fresh and clean. He pulled some pajama pants out of the duffel bag he brought along and pulled back the covers before he stripped out of his clothes and climbed in. He dropped his shoulders gently even as he removed his glasses, which he probably wouldn’t need in a couple weeks due to the restorative powers of the Vannas Island. He heard when Jack walked in but his husband stayed silent as he rooted around and the shifting of clothes before finally Jack climbed into his side of the bed and Daniel looked over to see Jack’s eyes on him.

Daniel smiled tiredly as Jack opened his arms and he slipped close to the older man with a sigh of happiness. “Hey Danny.”

He mumbled into Jack’s throat.

“Are you glad to be home again?”

Daniel nodded, “Are you?”

“A world of magic and goa’uld like symbiots, evil corporations and warrior caste living,” he paused and Daniel could hear the smile in his husband’s voice, “For the sake of the relative safety and acceptance of my children then hell yes I am happy to be home. It never occurred to me before we went back that not only would we have enemies but we would have friends who became enemies and those who would use the kids against us and the other way around. I would rather live in this black and white world where the people are incredibly straight forward about their dislike of us and they take care of it in the arena instead of steal our children or attempted murder and assault.”

Daniel huffed a laugh, “You do know that you were kidnapped more than once and beat up pretty soon after we got here, how is this place any safer?”

Jack chuckled, nuzzling his nose into the side of Daniel’s face and his lips skidded gently across Daniel’s chin. Daniel sighed into the contact that had been sorely lacking for a while due to awful circumstances. “Well, for one; no one has ever tried to kidnap our children and no one has ever attempted to rape you.”

“Winter tried to seduce me,” Daniel returned.

“Tried and failed then she cursed me. I would much rather selfishly deal with anything that comes my way rather than watch you and the children take the brunt of other people’s judgments and shortsightedness.”

“Jack that is the dumbest thing I think you have ever said to me,” Daniel said with a groan.

“What? Seriously because that’s a pretty high bar to reach for.”

Daniel chuckled again and kissed Jack’s throat, pleased that they both decided against wearing a shirt to bed. It was always pretty warm in this house, as Daniel recalled and he was much more pleased to touch all of that muscle down Jack’s shoulders and back. He may have been older but Jack had always taken good care of himself and as the kids grew older and loved to run around and be incredibly active it was all the more reason for both of them to take good care of themselves. Not to mention their bedroom activities were always improved by good health and vitality.

“I would love to continue this conversation or possibly not continue this conversation and do something else with your mouth,” Daniel whispered as he leaned up to take Jack’s mouth in a slow kiss that lasted several moments before he pulled away, “But I am tired.”

“Then sleep my beautiful Danny and I will be here when you awake in the morning.”

It was hard not to listen so Daniel closed his eyes, snuggled into his husband’s comforting arms and slipped into sleep. It amazed him how quickly he slept and how deeply he sank, there was nothing like the undeniable safety of being in Jack’s arms and no matter where he was, Daniel always felt loved as well. He dreamt of hands slipping down his neck and over his pecs and down across his stomach. He felt the worshipping lips and tongue as it tasted every scrap of skin on the way and Daniel moaned in his sleep as he slowly rose from that deep and restful place.

His hands reached out and trapped the fingers that were touching him, mumbling, “What time is it?”

“Time for this dry spell to go away, also sometime around sunrise. The kids are sleeping and probably will stay that way for a while. Now just let me do this, okay Danny?”

Daniel closed his eyes and nodded and let Jack go to work of pleasuring his body and the man knew so well. Jack started with those callused hands, slipping them into all the dips and valleys of Daniel’s chest and followed the path to his hipbones before he hooked his fingers into the edge of Daniel’s pajama bottoms and tugged them down. Daniel lifted his butt off the bed and allowed Jack to strip him of the last bit of clothing. Jack struggled to toss the pants aside and then he was climbing up Daniel’s body and pressing his lips to Daniel’s mouth gently. He didn’t want to be gentle though so he pressed harder and closer to Jack’s mouth and they both opened under the subtle pressure. Daniel moaned into the caress of Jack’s mobile tongue inside his mouth and the kiss went on for what seemed like eternity and it would never really be enough. Daniel felt the lust, for sure as it was always there between them but this love that he still felt in Jack’s mouth, hands and body was all consuming and overwhelming. It had the warmth of protection and love as well as the heat and passion that kept their bedroom activities lively and just plain hot.

When Jack fumbled around for the bedside table and pulled it open, Daniel moaned and released his husband’s lips in trade for slipping wet and open mouthed kisses across Jack’s collarbones and down towards his nipples to suck on one while the man groaned and ground his hips down into the juncture of Daniel’s thighs. “Danny,” Jack groaned as he finally found the lube and pulled back to press his lips to Daniel’s once more with a grinding thrust of his hips, “The way I feel about you Danny, God… It just gets deeper and wider and if you weren’t there to catch me, I might drown in it.”

Tears pricked at Daniel’s eyes and pressed his lips to Jack’s mouth again and with a hand pressed to Jack’s cheek he placed a little space between them, “I’ll always catch you Colonel Jack,” he husked.

Jack rose up and over Daniel to pull off his own bottoms, leaving them both naked and Daniel just allowed himself the pleasure of staring at this man who belonged only to him. Daniel pushed himself off the bed and pushed Jack down on the bed and climbed over his waist. After such a long dry spell, Daniel was not going to be able to take Jack inside him since the prep would be too much and Daniel needed to climax soon, and it didn’t need to be after his erection started flagging because of the inevitable burn of prepping him.

“I just wanna feel you close to me Danny, no pressure.”

He nodded and felt as Jack pressed his fingers into the jar of lube and reached out and gripped Daniel’s shaft gently even as Daniel did the same with Jack. He leaned down as they matched their rhythm and the movement of their hips. Daniel’s other hand pressed into Jack’s neck gently and their lips met in a frantic kiss as Jack pressed his free hand down in between them and caressed Daniel’s balls then pressed a slick digit against Daniel’s hole. He moaned into Jack’s mouth and ground down against Jack’s erection.

“Come on Danny,” Jack whispered when Daniel pulled his lips away to pant into Jack’s throat as he struggled to hold on just a little longer but between the slick glide of Jack’s fist around his cock and the finger twisting inside his ass there was no way to stop his climax but he wanted desperately for Jack to come with him.

Come on baby, I’m right behind you,” Jack whispered again and Daniel felt as Jack leaned down and pressed his teeth in around Daniel’s nipple and he erupted with a groan as Jack pressed his finger up and rubbed it against Daniel’s prostrate. He pressed down into Jack’s body, getting messy as Jack followed with a moan before Daniel pressed his forehead to Jack’s and they just held each other for a few moments as both of their heart rates slowed and Daniel pressed a gentle kiss to Jack’s lips. He settled down next to Jack in the bed, ridiculously pleased that they rechristened their bedroom.


	23. Swinging Back to Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little epilogue-like, just being together and getting back into the swing of life in the Vannas world once more.

Jack looked over at Daniel, keeping his slick fingers to himself even though he really wanted to touch Daniel’s face. The younger man didn’t appreciate lube on his face even if they were going to shower momentarily. He smiled as he spoke, “Well that took the edge off but later, my love, we are going all the way.”

Daniel laughed, “You got a date big guy but maybe we could share a shower before the children start waking up and shouting for breakfast.”

“I would love to take a hot shower with you, soap you up and rinse you off all the while I am going to keep on kissing you.”

Daniel smiled and leaned close to start the kissing Jack now who was a willing participant. Then they climbed from the bed and walked into the adjoining room to check out the master bathroom which held a nice sized shower and a large tub that would work for wet and soapy lovemaking as well as bath time when they were in a hurry with only two bathtubs and one shower. For now though Jack twisted the knob which turned on the water flow from their shower before they climbed in and started soaping up and rinsing off and Jack kept his word, kissing bits of skin as well as Daniel’s lips whenever he could.

Soon they were drying off and finding some jeans and socks as well shirts, white one with a checkered over shirt for Daniel while Jack stuck with a black one. “Did you talk to Zada last night?” Daniel asked Jack.

The retired General shrugged, “She wanted some alone time, that has to be normal when you have four siblings and constant contact with at least four other children.”

“I guess but we need to make sure they are getting what they need from us especially after the kidnapping. Zada and Johnny seem to be the ones to worry about but Zale and the twins still haven’t talked about it.”

“Haven’t really had a chance but we’ll work through it like we did with the assault, one day at a time.”

Daniel smiled at Jack and the older man’s heart skipped a beat when he looked at the beautiful smile on that lovely face. As much as he loved Daniel in glasses, in a few weeks it would be nice to see Daniel’s bright blue eyes and not have them obscured by his glasses. They cleaned up the bedding just about the time they heard the children stumbling down the stairs, searching out the kitchen. This house was patterned after Jack’s house that they were living in for the past year so it was easy for them to find their way back while Daniel and Jack walked out of the bedroom and across the room towards the kitchen.

“Good morning babies,” Daniel said quietly to all of them.

They smiled up at him in sleepy happiness and chorused, “Morning Daddy.”

“Breakfast?” Daniel questioned and they all nodded with jaw cracking yawns before they sat down around the table.

Johnny looked around the room, scared almost and searching. Jack walked over to his youngest son and touched his shoulder, sending waves of comfort into the child through their skin contact, “What’s the matter JJ?” Jack asked.

Johnny shook his head and looked to Zale who turned to him immediately, “He misses Greer. I think he didn’t really understand that Greer was going to be home with his mother again.”

Jack sighed, “Its okay Johnny, we can go see Greer later okay? Why aren’t you talking in my mind? You haven’t needed a translator for months.”

Johnny shrugged and though he was calmer, his eyes were still darting around the room and his fingers tapping at the surface of the table. Jack looked over to see Daniel frowning at the two of them then he looked to Zale who had always seemed to know the answers when it came to his brother.

“Zale?” Jack asked.

“I do not understand but I think the mind speaking is tiring him out with other people. Maybe we will have to resort to the hand language for a while.”

“Sign language,” Daniel corrected and Zale shrugged. Daniel was fluent in sign language as was Greer since they had been practicing with Johnny’s tutors constantly. Jack knew how to read and understand some of the signs and the kids were easy to speak to telepathically because they were all magical as opposed to Jack and Daniel. From what Jack remembered of this world, when there was magic in two individuals then whatever they were trying to accomplish such as building a bond or speaking into each other’s minds, it was just easier. Jack understood the concept, but it did not mean he didn’t feel left out sometimes and he knew Daniel felt the same occasionally but this was just one of the interesting side effects of magical children.

Jack stayed with Johnny and kept his arm around the boy’s thin shoulders even while Daniel put together breakfast, Zada not even trying to help. Now that they weren’t trying to escape scary world where the children were kidnapped it was easy to see how different they were acting. Jack understood now why Daniel was concerned about Zada wanting to be alone; it was surely only the first of changes they would have to deal with after the kidnapping. So Jack figured the best thing they could do was get their children back into some normal routine.

“You going to practice Latin again today?” he asked with false cheer.

Daniel nodded and immediately started their conversation in Latin, Jack could not even tell that they had only been speaking this language for a short time, all the children took to languages like their Daddy so it was all second nature to them and with the magic within some things were also easier to grasp.

So between Jack and Daniel, they did what they could to get back to a schedule. Akina and Greer, thank god, stopped by and set up a schedule for each of the children to start honing their abilities and Daniel was given and abbreviated teaching schedule to work with. Jack again reassured Akina that for now he was nothing more than a stay at home Papa and didn’t need to get caught up in the physical drama that came from working closely with a magical Queen and she was more than welcome to ask his advice but he was not returning to the field.

All in all it was a first day back in their future home with their future friends and their magical children. Jack was sure the drama wouldn’t wait long to start up again. Zale was still learning to deal with the Magis who caused harm sometimes and Johnny was still dealing with his inability to speak and all the children in between would be dealing with normal children stuff which Jack was ready for and all the magical crap he would rather do without but for now, everyone was safe and together and for now that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just letting you know that a big reason for the next book to start is indeed going to be the children each dealing with the kidnapping and some of them really just starting to deal with Daniel's assault (Zale and Johnny) and how Daniel and Jack are going to deal with it as well as the magical aspects of the problem.  
> I am hoping to start the next story possibly after I get some of Cause to Live uploaded because it has been sorely neglected while I attempt to finish this story.  
> Anyway keep reviewing and I love any ideas you guys might want to email/message about. Possibly milestones for the kids to go through or whatever, just don't want to say goodbye to this series and don't want to only pick it up ten years down the line in the Sparty Verse.  
> I love you guys, thank you for the support and I promise this world is not coming to an end.


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